* Regulation of Boxing, Sparring and Wrestling--Chapter 912 of 1920
*§ 1. State athletic commission. The state boxing commission is
continued as a division in the department of state under the name of the
state athletic commission. The commission shall consist of three members
who shall be appointed by the governor by and with the advice and
consent of the senate. The governor shall designate one of the members
as chairman of the commission. The members of the commission shall be
appointed for terms of three years. Any vacancy in the membership of the
commission caused otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled
only for the balance of the term of the member in whose position the
vacancy occurs.
The commissioners shall be paid their actual and necessary traveling
and other expenses incurred by them in the performance of their official
duties. The commission shall maintain in the city of New York general
offices for the transaction of its business. The members of the
commission shall adopt a seal for the commission, and make such rules
for the administration of their office, not inconsistent herewith, as
they may deem expedient; and they may amend or abrogate such rules. Two
of the members of the commission shall constitute a quorum to do
business; and the concurrence of at least two commissioners shall be
necessary to render a determination by the commission.
The commission shall annually make to the legislature a full report of
its proceedings for the year ending with the first day of the preceding
December and may submit with such report such recommendations pertaining
to its affairs as it shall deem desirable.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 2. Officers and employees. The commission may appoint, and at
pleasure remove, deputies who shall be paid a salary within budgetary
appropriations and all necessary expenses for traveling and maintenance
incurred by them in the performance of their official duties outside of
the city in which they are regularly employed. The commission may
appoint, and at pleasure remove, a secretary to the commission, whose
duty it shall be to keep a full and true record of all its proceedings,
preserve at its general office all its books, documents and papers,
prepare for service such notices and other papers as may be required of
him by the commission and perform such other duties as the commission
may prescribe. The secretary of the commission shall receive an annual
salary within budgetary appropriations. The commission may employ such
other officers, employees and inspectors as may be necessary to
administer the provisions of this act and fix their salaries within the
amount appropriated therefor by the legislature. The necessary traveling
and other necessary expenses of the members of the commission, and the
salary of its deputies and secretary, shall be paid monthly out of the
state treasury on the warrant of the comptroller and the certificate of
the chairman of the commission out of the money appropriated to be used
therefor.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 3. Subpoenas by commission; oaths. The commission shall have
authority to issue, under the hand of its chairman, and the seal of the
commission, subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses before the
commission. A subpoena issued under this section shall be regulated by
the civil practice law and rules.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 4. Medical advisory board. 1. A medical advisory board is hereby
created in the division of the state athletic commission, to consist of
nine members, to be appointed by the governor. Of the members first
appointed by the governor, three shall be appointed for terms of one
year, three for terms of two years, and three members shall be appointed
for terms of three years, from and after the date of their appointment.
The governor shall designate one of such members as chairman of the
advisory board. The term of a member thereafter appointed, except to
fill a vacancy, shall be three years from the expiration of the term of
his predecessor. Upon the appointment of a successor to the chairman of
the advisory board, the governor shall designate such successor or other
member of the advisory board as chairman. A vacancy occurring otherwise
than by expiration of term, shall be filled by appointment by the
governor for the remainder only of the term. Each member of the advisory
board shall be duly licensed to practice medicine in the state of New
York, and at the time of his appointment have had at least five years
experience in the practice of his profession. The members of the
advisory board shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the
commission within the amount provided by appropriation, and shall be
allowed and paid necessary traveling and other expenses incurred by
them, respectively, in the performance of their duties hereunder.
2. The advisory board shall have power and it shall be the duty of the
board to prepare and submit to the commission for approval regulations
and standards for the physical examination of professional boxers
including, without limitation, pre-fight and/or post-fight examinations
and periodic comprehensive examinations. The board shall continue to
serve in an advisory capacity to the commission and from time to time
prepare and submit to the commission for approval, such additional
regulations and standards of examination as in their judgment will
safeguard the physical welfare of professional boxers licensed by the
commission. The advisory board shall recommend to the commission from
time to time such qualified physicians, for the purpose of conducting
physical examinations of professional boxers and other services as the
rules of the commission shall provide; and shall recommend to the
commission a schedule of fees to be paid to physicians for such
examinations and other services as required by this act.
3. The advisory board shall develop appropriate medical education
programs for all commission personnel involved in the conduct of boxing
and sparring matches or exhibitions so that such personnel can recognize
and act upon evidence of potential or actual adverse medical indications
in a participant prior to or during the course of a match.
4. The advisory board shall review the credentials and performance of
each commission physician on an annual basis as a condition of
reappointment of each such physician, including each such physician's
comprehension of the medical literature on boxing referred to in
subdivision five of this section.
5. The advisory board shall recommend to the commission a compilation
of medical publications on the medical aspects of boxing which shall be
maintained by the commission and be made available for review to all
commission personnel involved in the conduct of any boxing or sparring
match or exhibition.
6. The advisory board shall also advise the commission on any study of
equipment, procedures or personnel which will, in their opinion, promote
the safety of boxing participants.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 5. Boxing and professional wrestling exhibitions authorized. No
boxing, sparring or professional wrestling matches or exhibitions shall
be conducted, held or given within the state except in accordance with
the provisions of this act. The commission shall direct a deputy to be
present at each place where boxing or sparring matches or exhibitions
are to be held pursuant to the provisions of this act. Such deputy shall
ascertain the exact conditions surrounding such match or exhibition and
make a written report of the same in the manner and form prescribed by
the commission. Such boxing or sparring matches or exhibitions may be
held in any building for which the commission in its discretion may
issue a license. Where such match or exhibition is authorized to be held
in a state or city owned armory, the provision of the military law in
respect thereto must be complied with, but no such match or exhibition
shall be held in a building wholly used for religious services.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 5-a. Combative sports. 1. A "combative sport" shall mean any
professional match or exhibition other than boxing, sparring, wrestling
or martial arts wherein the contestants deliver, or are not forbidden by
the applicable rules thereof from delivering kicks, punches or blows of
any kind to the body of an opponent or opponents. For the purposes of
this section, the term "martial arts" shall include any professional
match or exhibition sanctioned by any of the following organizations:
U.S. Judo Association, U.S. Judo, Inc., U.S. Judo Federation, U.S. Tae
Kwon Do Union, North American Sport Karate Association, U.S.A. Karate
Foundation, U.S. Karate, Inc., World Karate Association, Professional
Karate Association, Karate International, International Kenpo
Association, or World Wide Kenpo Association. The commission is
authorized to promulgate regulations which would establish a process to
allow for the inclusion or removal of martial arts organizations from
the above list. Such process shall include but not be limited to
consideration of the following factors:
(a) is the organization's primary purpose to provide instruction in
self defense techniques;
(b) does the organization require the use of hand, feet and groin
protection during any competition or bout; and
(c) does the organization have an established set of rules that
require the immediate termination of any competition or bout when any
participant has received severe punishment or is in danger of suffering
serious physical injury.
2. No combative sport shall be conducted, held or given within the
state of New York, and no licenses may be approved by the commission for
such matches or exhibitions.
3. (a) A person who knowingly advances or profits from a combative
sport activity shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, and shall be
guilty of a class E felony if he or she has been convicted in the
previous five years of violating this subdivision.
(b) A person advances a combative sport activity when, acting other
than as a spectator, he or she engages in conduct which materially aids
any combative sport. Such conduct includes but is not limited to conduct
directed toward the creation, establishment or performance of a
combative sport, toward the acquisition or maintenance of premises,
paraphernalia, equipment or apparatus therefor, toward the solicitation
or inducement of persons to attend or participate therein, toward the
actual conduct of the performance thereof, toward the arrangement of any
of its financial or promotional phases, or toward any other phase of a
combative sport. One advances a combative sport activity when, having
substantial proprietary or other authoritative control over premises
being used with his or her knowledge for purposes of a combative sport
activity, he or she permits such to occur or continue or makes no effort
to prevent its occurrence or continuation.
(c) A person profits from a combative sport activity when he or she
accepts or receives money or other property with intent to participate
in the proceeds of a combative sport activity, or pursuant to an
agreement or understanding with any person whereby he or she
participates or is to participate in the proceeds of a combative sport
activity.
(d) Any person who knowingly advances or profits from a combative
sport activity shall also be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed
for the first violation ten thousand dollars or twice the amount of gain
derived therefrom whichever is greater, or for a subsequent violation
twenty thousand dollars or twice the amount of gain derived therefrom
whichever is greater. The attorney general is hereby empowered to
commence judicial proceedings to recover such penalties and to obtain
injunctive relief to enforce the provisions of this section.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 6. Jurisdiction of commission. 1. The commission shall have and
hereby is vested with the sole direction, management, control and
jurisdiction over all such boxing and sparring matches or exhibitions to
be conducted, held or given within the state of New York and over all
licenses to any and all persons who participate in such boxing or
sparring matches or exhibitions and over any and all gyms, clubs,
training camps and other organizations that maintain training facilities
providing contact sparring for persons who prepare for participation in
such boxing or sparring matches or exhibitions, and over the promotion
of professional wrestling exhibitions to the extent provided for in
sections 5, 9, 19, 20, 28-a, 28-b and 33 of this act, except as
otherwise provided in this act.
2. The commission is authorized and directed to require that all sites
wherein boxing, sparring and wrestling matches and exhibitions are
conducted shall comply with state and applicable local sanitary codes
appropriate to school athletic facilities.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 7. Corporations and persons required to procure licenses;
professional boxer defined. Except as otherwise provided in sections 9
and 9-a of this chapter, with respect to all boxing or sparring matches
or exhibitions in this state, all corporations, persons, referees,
judges, match-makers, timekeepers, corporation treasurers, box office
employees, ticket takers, doormen, ushers, professional boxers, their
managers, trainers, seconds and announcers shall be licensed by the
commission, and no such corporation or person shall be permitted to
participate, either directly or indirectly, in any boxing or sparring
match or exhibition, or the holding thereof, or the operation of any
training facility providing contact sparring maintained either
exclusively or in part for the use of professional boxers, unless such
corporation or persons shall have first procured a license from the
commission. The commission shall establish by rule and regulation
licensing and training standards for such referees, judges, managers,
trainers and seconds. For the purposes of this chapter, a professional
boxer is deemed to be one who competes for a money prize or teaches or
pursues or assists in the practice of boxing as a means of obtaining a
livelihood or pecuniary gain, and any contest conforming to the rules,
regulations and requirements of this chapter shall be deemed to be a
boxing match and not a prize fight.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 7-a. Regulation of judges. 1. Judges for any contest under the
jurisdiction of the commission shall be selected by the commission from
a list of qualified licensed judges maintained by the commission.
2. Any boxer or manager may protest the assignment of a judge to a
contest and the protesting boxer or manager may be heard by the
commission or its designee if such protest is timely. If the protest is
untimely it shall be summarily rejected.
3. Each person seeking to be licensed as a judge by the commission
shall be required to submit to or provide proof of an eye examination
and annually thereafter on the anniversary of the issuance of the
license. Each person seeking to be a boxing judge in the state must be
certified as having completed a training program as approved by the
commission and shall have passed a written examination approved by the
commission covering aspects of boxing including, but not limited to, the
rules of the sport, the law of the state relating to the commission, and
basic first aid. The commission shall establish continuing education
programs to keep licensees current on areas of required knowledge.
4. Each person seeking a license to be a boxing judge in the state
shall be required to fill out a financial questionnaire certifying under
penalty of perjury full disclosure of the judge's financial situation on
a questionnaire to be promulgated by the commission. Such questionnaire
shall be in a form and manner approved by the commission and shall
provide information as to areas of actual or potential conflict of
interests as well as appearances of such conflicts, including financial
responsibility. Within forty-eight hours of any match, each boxing judge
shall file with the commission a financial disclosure statement in such
form and manner as shall be acceptable to the commission.
5. Only a person licensed by the commission may judge a boxing contest
within the state.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 8. License to corporations. 1. a. The commission may, in its
discretion, issue a license to conduct, hold or give boxing or sparring
matches or exhibitions, subject to the provisions hereof, to any person
or corporation duly incorporated under the laws of the state of New
York.
b. A prospective licensee must submit to the commission proof that it
can furnish suitable premises in which such match or exhibition is to be
held.
c. Upon written application and the payment of a fee of fifty dollars
which must accompany the application, the commission may grant to any
person or corporation holding a license issued hereunder, the privilege
of holding such a match or exhibition on a specified date in other
premises, or in another location, than the premises or location
previously approved by the commission, subject however to approval of
the commission and the rules and regulations of the commission.
2. a. The commission may, in its discretion and in accordance with
regulations adopted by the commission to protect the health and safety
of professional boxers in training, issue a license to operate a
training facility providing contact sparring maintained either
exclusively or in part for the use of professional boxers. The
regulations of the commission shall include, but not be limited to, the
following subjects to protect the health and safety of professional
boxers:
(i) Requirements for first aid materials to be stored in an accessible
location on the premises and for the presence on the premises of a
person trained and certified in the use of such materials and procedures
for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation at all times during which the
facility is open for training purposes;
(ii) Prominent posting adjacent to an accessible telephone of the
telephone number for emergency medical services at the nearest hospital;
(iii) Clean and sanitary bathrooms, shower rooms, locker rooms and
food serving and storage areas;
(iv) Adequate ventilation and lighting of accessible areas of the
training facility;
(v) Establishment of a policy concerning the restriction of smoking in
training areas, including provisions for its enforcement by the facility
operator;
(vi) Compliance with state and local fire ordinances;
(vii) Inspection and approval of rings as required by section
twenty-four of this chapter; and
(viii) Establishment of a policy for posting all commission license
suspensions and license revocations received from the commission
including provisions for enforcement of such suspensions and revocations
by the facility operator.
b. A prospective licensee shall submit to the commission proof that it
can furnish suitable facilities in which the training is to be
conducted, including the making of such training facilities available
for inspection by the commission at any time during which training is in
progress.
c. On the first infraction of rules or regulations promulgated
pursuant to this subdivision, which infraction may include more than one
individual violation, the commission may impose a civil fine of up to
two hundred fifty dollars for each health and safety violation and may
suspend the training facility's license until the violation or
violations are corrected. On the second such infraction, the commission
may impose a civil fine of up to five hundred dollars for each health
and safety violation and may suspend the training facility's license
until the violation or violations are corrected. On the third such
infraction or for subsequent infractions, the commission may impose a
civil fine of up to seven hundred fifty dollars for each health and
safety violation and may revoke the training facility's license.
3. All penalties imposed and collected by the commission from any
corporation, person or persons licensed under the provisions of this
act, which fines and penalties are imposed and collected under authority
hereby vested shall within thirty days after the receipt thereof by the
commission be paid by them into the state treasury.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 9. Temporary working permits. The commission shall issue temporary
working permits to box office employees, ushers, ticket takers and
doormen good for employment at a single exhibition of boxing, sparring
or professional wrestling, at a stated time and place. The fee for each
such temporary working permit shall be established by the commission
pursuant to rule. No person shall be entitled to obtain more than six
temporary working permits in any one license year.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 9-a. Temporary working permits for boxers, managers, trainers and
seconds. The commission may issue temporary working permits to
professional boxers, their managers, trainers and seconds. A temporary
working permit shall authorize the employment of the holder of such
permit to engage in a single match at a specified time and place. A
temporary working permit may be issued if in the judgment of the
commission the participation of the holder thereof in a boxing match
will be consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter, the
best interests of boxing generally, and the public interest, convenience
or necessity. The commission may require that boxers applying for
temporary working permits undergo a physical examination, neurological
or neuropsychological test or procedure, including
electroencephalography and computed tomography or medically equivalent
procedure. The fee for such temporary working permit shall be
established by the commission pursuant to rule.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 9-b. Temporary training facilities. Any training facility
providing contact sparring established and maintained on a temporary
basis for the purpose of preparing a professional boxer or for a
specific boxing or sparring match or exhibition to be conducted, held or
given within the state of New York shall be exempt from this act insofar
as it concerns the licensing of such facilities if, in the judgement of
the commission, establishment and maintenance of such facility will be
consistent with the purposes and provisions of this chapter, the best
interests of boxing generally, and the public interest, convenience or
necessity.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 10. License fees; term of licenses; renewals. Each applicant for a
license shall, before a license is issued by the commission, pay to the
commission, an annual license fee as follows: corporations in cities of
the first class, where the seating capacity is not more than two
thousand five hundred, four hundred and fifty dollars; where the seating
capacity is more than two thousand five hundred but not more than five
thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars; where the seating capacity is
more than five thousand but not more than fifteen thousand, one thousand
dollars; where the seating capacity is more than fifteen thousand but
not more than twenty-five thousand, two thousand dollars; where the
seating capacity is more than twenty-five thousand, two thousand five
hundred dollars; in cities of the second class, three hundred dollars;
elsewhere, one hundred fifty dollars; corporations or persons applying
to operate a training facility providing contact sparring maintained
either exclusively or in part for the use of professional boxers, one
hundred dollars; referees, fifty dollars; judges, fifty dollars;
matchmakers, fifty dollars; corporation-treasurers, fifty dollars; box
office employees, twenty dollars; timekeepers, ten dollars; professional
boxers, ten dollars; managers, thirty dollars; trainers, ten dollars;
seconds, ten dollars; ticket takers, ten dollars; doormen, ten dollars;
ushers, ten dollars; special policemen, ten dollars; announcers, twenty
dollars. Each license or renewal thereof issued pursuant to this section
on or after October 1, 1938, shall be effective for a license year
expiring on the thirtieth day of September following the date of its
issuance. The annual license fee prescribed by this section shall be the
license fee due and payable therefor and shall be paid in advance at the
time application is made therefor, and each such license may be renewed
for periods of one year upon the payment of the annual license fee
prescribed by this section. Within three years from the date of payment
and upon the audit of the comptroller, the commission may refund any
fee, unforfeited posted guarantee or tax paid pursuant to this act, for
which no license is issued or no service rendered or refund that portion
of the payment that is in excess of the amount prescribed by statute.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 11. Application for license; fingerprints. 1. Every application
for a license shall be in writing, shall be addressed to the commission,
shall be subscribed by the applicant, and affirmed by him as true under
the penalties of perjury, and shall set forth such facts as the
provisions hereof and the rules and regulations of the commission may
require.
2. When an application is made for a license under this act, the
commission shall cause the fingerprints of such applicant, or if such
applicant be a corporation, of the officers of such corporation, to be
taken in triplicate. One copy shall be filed in the office of the
division of criminal justice services at Albany, one copy may be
submitted to the federal bureau of investigation for a national criminal
history record check, and one shall remain on file in the office of the
commission. No such fingerprint may be inspected by any person, other
than a peace officer, except on order of a judge or justice of a court
of record. The information obtained by any such fingerprint examination
shall be for the guidance of the commission in the exercise of its
discretion in granting or withholding the license.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 12. Standards for the issuance of licenses.
1. If in the judgment of the commission the financial responsibility,
experience, character and general fitness of an applicant, including in
the case of corporations its officers and stockholders, are such that
the participation of such applicant will be consistent with the public
interest, convenience or necessity and the safety of boxing and
wrestling participants and with the best interests of boxing or
wrestling generally and in conformity with the purposes of this act, the
commission may grant a license in accordance with the provisions herein
contained.
2. Any professional boxer applying for a license or renewal of a
license under this chapter shall undergo a comprehensive physical
examination including clinical neurological and neuropsychological
examinations by a physician approved by the commission. If, at the time
of such examination, there is any indication of brain injury, or for any
other reason the physician deems it appropriate, the boxer shall be
required to undergo further neurological and neuropsychological
examinations by a neurologist including, but not limited to, a computed
tomography or medically equivalent procedure. The commission shall not
issue a license to a boxer until such examinations are completed and
reviewed by the commission. The results of all such examinations herein
required shall become a part of the boxer's permanent medical record as
maintained by the commission. The costs of all such examinations called
for in this subdivision shall be assumed by the state if such
examinations are performed by a physician or neurologist approved by the
commission.
3. Any professional boxer licensed under this chapter shall, as a
condition of licensure, waive right of confidentiality of medical
records relating to treatment of any physical condition which relates to
his ability to fight. All medical reports submitted to, and all medical
records of the medical advisory board or the commission relative to the
physical examination or condition of boxers and wrestlers shall be
considered confidential, and shall be open to examination only to the
commissioner or its authorized representative, to the licensed boxer or
manager upon written application to examine said records, or upon the
order of a court of competent jurisdiction in an appropriate case.
4. All contracts calling for the services of a boxer in a boxing
contest and entered into by licensed promoting corporations, boxers or
managers as one or more of the parties in such contracts, including
those contracts which relate to the rights to distribute, televise or
otherwise transmit any boxing bout over the airwaves or by cable shall
be subject to the approval of the commission and copies thereof shall be
filed with the commission by such corporation, boxer or manager within
forty-eight hours after the execution of such contract and at least ten
business days prior to any bouts, or the first of any series of bouts,
to which they relate. The commission may waive such filing deadline for
good cause shown.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 13. Financial interest in boxer prohibited. No corporation or
person shall have, either directly or indirectly, any financial interest
in a boxer competing on premises owned or leased by the corporation or
person, or in which such corporation or person is otherwise interested
except pursuant to the specific written authorization of the commission.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 14. Payments not to be made before contests. No contestant in a
boxing or sparring match or exhibition shall be paid for services before
the contest, and should it be determined by the commission that such
contestant did not give an honest exhibition of his skill, such services
shall not be paid for.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 15. Sham or collusive exhibitions. Any person, including any
corporation and the officers thereof, any physician, referee, judge,
timekeeper, boxer, manager, trainer or second, who shall promote,
conduct, give or participate in any sham or collusive boxing or sparring
match or exhibition, shall be deprived of his license by the commission.
No licensed promoting corporation or matchmaker shall knowingly engage
in a course of conduct in which fights are arranged where one boxer has
skills or experience significantly in excess of the other boxer so that
a mismatch results with the potential of physical harm to the boxer. If
such action occurs, the commission may exercise its powers to discipline
under section seventeen of this chapter.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 16. Imposition of penalties for violations. Any corporation,
person or persons, licensed under the provisions of this chapter, that
shall willfully violate any rule or order of the commission or any
provision of this chapter, in addition to any other penalty by law
prescribed, shall be liable to a civil penalty not to exceed ten
thousand dollars for the first offense and not to exceed twenty-five
thousand dollars for the second and each subsequent offense, to be
imposed by the commission, to be sued for by the attorney-general in the
name of the people of the state of New York if directed by the
commission. The amount of the penalty collected by the commission or
recovered in any such action, or paid to the commission upon a
compromise as hereinafter provided, shall be transmitted by the
department of state into the state treasury and credited to the general
fund. The commission, for cause shown, may extend the time for the
payment of such penalty and, by compromise, may accept less than the
amount of such penalty as imposed in settlement thereof. For the
purposes of this section, each transaction or statutory violation shall
constitute a separate offense, except that a second or subsequent
offense shall not be deemed to exist unless a decision has been rendered
in a prior, separate and independent proceeding.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 17. Revocation or suspension of licenses. (a) Any license issued
under the provisions of this act may be revoked or suspended by the
commission for the reason therein stated, that the licensee has, in the
judgment of the commission, been guilty of an act detrimental to the
interests of boxing or wrestling generally or to the public interest,
convenience or necessity.
(b) Without otherwise limiting the discretion of the commission as
provided in this act, the commission may suspend or revoke a license or
refuse to renew or issue a license, if it shall find that the applicant,
or any person who is a partner, agent, employee, stockholder or
associate of the applicant, has been convicted of a crime in any
jurisdiction, or is associating or consorting with any person who has or
persons who have been convicted of a crime or crimes in any jurisdiction
or jurisdictions, or is consorting or associating with or has consorted
or associated with bookmakers, gamblers or persons of similar pursuits,
or has himself engaged in similar pursuits, or is financially
irresponsible, or has been guilty of or attempted any fraud or
misrepresentation in connection with boxing, or has violated or
attempted to violate any law with respect to boxing in any jurisdiction
or any rule, regulation or order of the commission, or shall have
violated any rule of boxing which shall have been approved or adopted by
the commission, or has been guilty of or engaged in similar, related or
like practices.
(c) No such contestant may, under any circumstances, compete or appear
in such a match, exhibition or noncompetitive boxing within ninety days
of having suffered a knockout in any such match or exhibition, or within
forty-five days of having suffered a technical knockout where there is
evidence of head trauma as determined by the attending commission
physician and shall undergo such examinations as required under section
twenty-five of this chapter. The contestant shall be considered
suspended from boxing by the commission and shall forfeit his license to
the commission during such period and such license shall not be returned
to the contestant until the boxer has met all requirements, medical and
otherwise, for reinstatement of such license. All such suspensions shall
be recorded in the boxer's license by a commission official. For
purposes of this section noncompetitive boxing shall include any contact
training or sparring.
(d) The commission may at any time suspend, revoke or deny a boxer's
license or temporary working permit for medical reasons.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission may
revoke any license issued under the provisions of this chapter if it
shall find that the licensee has knowingly and intentionally engaged in
any prohibited practices, as prescribed by the commission in rules and
regulations promulgated pursuant to subdivision 5 of section 23 of this
chapter, during a boxing or sparring match or exhibition.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if any other state
shall revoke a licensee's license to box in that state based on a
knowing and intentional engagement in any prohibited practices of such
state, the commission may act to revoke any license to box issued to
such licensee pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* 18. Advertising matter to state admission price. It shall be the
duty of every person or corporation promoting or conducting a boxing or
sparring match or exhibition subject to the provisions of this chapter
to cause to be inserted in each show card, bill, poster, newspaper
advertisement and in each and every advertisement of any exhibition or
contest given by it, the price of admission thereto. Violation of the
provisions of this section shall subject the person or corporation to a
fine of one hundred dollars.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 19. Tickets to indicate purchase price. All tickets of admission
to any boxing, sparring or professional wrestling match or exhibition
shall be controlled by the provisions of article 25 of the arts and
cultural affairs law. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation
to admit to such match or exhibition a number of people greater than the
seating capacity of the place where such contest is held. Violation of
this section shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punishable as such and
in addition shall incur forfeiture of license.
* NB Effective until July 1, 2018
* § 19. Tickets to indicate purchase price. All tickets of admission
to any boxing, sparring or professional wrestling match or exhibition
shall bear clearly upon the face thereof the purchase price of same, and
no such tickets shall be sold by such licensee for more than such price
as printed thereon, or by any other person coming into possession of the
same for a price in excess of fifty cents in advance of such printed
price. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to admit to
such match or exhibition a number of people greater than the seating
capacity of the place where such contest is held. Violation of this
section shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punishable as such and in
addition shall incur forfeiture of license.
* NB Effective July 1, 2018
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 20. Equipment of buildings for exhibitions. All buildings or
structures used or intended to be used for holding or giving boxing,
sparring or professional wrestling matches or exhibitions shall be
properly ventilated and provided with fire exits and fire escapes, and
in all manner conform to the laws, ordinances and regulations pertaining
to buildings in the city, town or village where situated.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 21. Age of participants and spectators. No person under the age of
eighteen years shall participate in any professional boxing, sparring or
professional wrestling match or exhibition, and no person under sixteen
years of age shall be permitted to attend thereat as a spectator;
provided, however, that a person between the ages of eight and sixteen
shall be permitted to attend thereat as a spectator if accompanied by a
parent or guardian.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 22. Weights; classes and rules. The weights and classes of boxers
and the rules and regulations of boxing shall be prescribed by the
commission.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 23. Regulation of conduct of matches or exhibitions. 1. No boxing
or sparring match or exhibition shall be of more than twelve rounds in
length, such rounds to be not more than three minutes each; and no boxer
shall be allowed to participate in more than twelve rounds within
seventy-two consecutive hours. The commission may in respect to any bout
or in respect to any class of contestants limit the number of rounds of
a bout within the maximum of twelve rounds. At each boxing or sparring
match or exhibition except where the exhibitions are held solely for
training purposes, there shall be in attendance a duly licensed referee
who shall direct and control the same. Before starting such contest the
referee shall ascertain from each contestant the name of his chief
second, and shall hold such chief second responsible for the conduct of
his assistant seconds during the progress of the contest. The commission
shall have power in its discretion to declare forfeited any prize,
remuneration or purse, or any part thereof, belonging to the contestants
or one of them, or the share thereof of any manager if in its judgment,
such contestant or contestants are not honestly competing or the
contestant or manager of a contestant, as the case may be, has committed
an act in the premises in violation of any rule, order or regulation of
the commission. The amount so forfeited shall be paid within forty-eight
hours to the commission. There shall also be in attendance, except where
the exhibitions are held solely for training purposes, three duly
licensed judges who shall at the termination of each such boxing or
sparring match or exhibition render their decision. The winner shall be
determined in accordance with a scoring system prescribed by the
commission. Each contestant shall wear, during such contest, gloves
weighing not less than eight ounces, unless otherwise directed by the
commission. Thumbless boxing gloves (or gloves with the thumb section
locked, fastened, tied or immovably set to the balance of the glove) of
a type approved by the commission shall be used in all boxing matches or
exhibitions, provided, however, that this requirement may be waived at
the discretion of the commission for championship matches of at least
twelve scheduled rounds.
2. The commission may by rule, regulation or order, require the
presence of any medical equipment and personnel at each boxing or
sparring match or exhibition as is necessary or beneficial for the
safety and protection of the contestants; and may also require the
presence of an ambulance or other apparatus at the site of any such
match or exhibition or the promulgation of an emergency medical plan in
lieu thereof.
3. The commission shall prescribe by rule or regulation the
responsibilities of managers, trainers and seconds prior to, during and
after a boxing or sparring match or exhibition in order to promote the
safety of the contestants at all times.
4. The commission shall require by rule or regulation that any
professional boxer licensed under this chapter present to a designated
commission official, before each match or exhibition in which he fights
in this state, a license which shall include but not be limited to the
following information: (a) the boxer's name, photograph, social security
number, date of birth, and other identifying information; (b) the
boxer's prior fight history including the dates, location, and decision
of such fights; (c) the boxer's medical history, relating to any
physical condition, medical test or procedure which relates to his
ability to fight, and a record of all medical suspensions.
5. The commission shall prescribe by rule or regulation the
unsportsmanlike practices prohibited in all boxing or sparring matches
or exhibitions, which shall include the practice of biting.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 24. Rings. No boxing contest or exhibition or training activity
shall be permitted in any ring unless such ring has been inspected and
approved by the commission. The commission shall prescribe standard
acceptable size and quality requirements for rings and appurtenances
thereto.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 25. Examination by physician; cost. 1. All boxers must be examined
by a physician designated by the commission before entering the ring and
each such physician shall immediately file with the commission a written
report of such examination. The cost of any such examination, as
prescribed by a schedule of fees established by the commission, shall be
paid by the corporation conducting the contest or exhibition to the
commission, which shall then pay the fee covering such cost to the
examining physician, in accordance with the rules of the commission.
2. Any professional boxer licensed under this chapter rendered
unconscious or suffering head trauma as determined by the attending
physician shall be immediately examined by the attending commission
physician and shall be required to undergo neurological and
neuropsychological examinations by a neurologist including but not
limited to a computed tomography or medically equivalent procedure. Any
boxer so injured shall not appear in any match or exhibition until
results of such examinations are reviewed by the commission. The results
of all such examinations herein required shall become a part of the
boxer's permanent medical record as maintained by the commission and
shall be used by the commission to determine whether a boxer shall be
permitted to appear in any future boxing match or exhibition. The costs
of all such examinations called for in this subdivision and subdivision
three shall be assumed by the state if such examinations are performed
by a physician approved by the commission.
3. The commission may at any time require a licensed boxer to undergo
a physical examination, including any neurological or neuropsychological
test or procedure.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 26. Physician to be in attendance; powers of such physician. 1. It
shall be the duty of every person or corporation licensed to conduct a
boxing or sparring match or exhibition, to have in attendance at every
boxing or sparring match or exhibition, at least one physician
designated by the commission as the rules shall provide. The commission
may establish a schedule of fees to be paid by the licensee to cover the
cost of such attendance. Such fees shall be paid to the commission,
which shall then pay such fees to the physicians entitled thereto, in
accordance with the rules of the commission.
2. The physician shall terminate any boxing or sparring match or
exhibition if in the opinion of such physician any contestant has
received severe punishment or is in danger of serious physical injury.
In the event of any serious physical injury, such physician shall
immediately render any emergency treatment necessary, recommend further
treatment or hospitalization if required, and fully report the entire
matter to the commission within twenty-four hours and if necessary,
subsequently thereafter. Such physician may also require that the
injured boxer and his manager remain in the ring or on the premises or
report to a hospital after the contest for such period of time as such
physician deems advisable.
3. Such physician may enter the ring at any time during a boxing or
sparring match or exhibition and may terminate the match if in his
opinion the same is necessary to prevent severe punishment or serious
physical injury to a contestant.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 27. Bond. Before a license shall be granted to a person or
corporation to conduct a boxing or sparring match or exhibition, the
applicant shall execute and file with the comptroller a bond in an
amount to be determined by the commission, to be approved as to form and
sufficiency of sureties thereon by the comptroller, conditioned for the
faithful performance by said corporation of the provisions of this act
and the rules and regulations of the commission, and upon the filing and
approval of said bond the comptroller shall issue to said applicant a
certificate of such filing and approval, which shall be by said
applicant filed in the office of the commission with its application for
license, and no such license shall be issued until such certificate
shall be filed. In case of default in such performance, the commission
may impose upon the delinquent a penalty in the sum of not more than one
thousand dollars for each offense, which may be recovered by the
attorney-general in the name of the people of the state of New York in
the same manner as other penalties are recovered by law; any amount so
recovered shall be paid into the treasury.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 28. Bond for purses, salaries and other expenses. In addition to
the bond required by section twenty-seven, each applicant for a license
to conduct a boxing or sparring match or exhibition shall execute and
file with the comptroller a bond in an amount to be determined by the
commission to be approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties thereon
by the comptroller, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment of
boxers' and wrestlers' purses, salaries of club employees licensed by
the commission, and the legitimate expenses of printing tickets and all
advertising material.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 28-a. Duty to provide insurance for licensed boxers and
professional wrestlers. 1. All persons, parties or corporations having
licenses as promoters or who are licensed in accordance with section
28-b of this act shall continuously provide insurance for the protection
of licensed boxers and professional wrestlers, appearing in boxing bouts
or wrestling exhibitions. Such insurance coverage shall provide for
reimbursement to the licensed athlete for medical, surgical and hospital
care, with a minimum limit of seven thousand five hundred dollars for
injuries sustained while participating in any program operated under the
control of such licensed promoter and for a payment of one hundred
thousand dollars to the estate of any deceased athlete where such death
is occasioned by injuries received in this state during the course of a
program in which such licensed athlete or professional wrestler
participated under the promotion or control of any licensed promoter.
The commission may from time to time, in its discretion, increase the
amount of such minimum limits.
2. The failure to provide such insurance as is required by subdivision
one of this section shall be cause for the suspension or the revocation
of the license of such defaulting promoter.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 28-b. Professional wrestling; promoters. 1. For the purposes of
this act, "professional wrestling" shall mean an activity in which
participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of
providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona
fide athletic contest or competition.
2. Every person, partnership or corporation promoting one or more
professional wrestling exhibitions in this state shall be required to
obtain from the commission an annual license to conduct such exhibitions
subject to terms and conditions promulgated by the commission pursuant
to rule and consistent with the applicable provisions of this act. Each
applicant shall pay an annual fee established by the commission pursuant
to rule.
3. A licensed promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition in the
state shall notify the athletic commission at least ten days in advance
of the holding of the exhibition. Each such promoter shall execute and
file with the comptroller a bond in an amount not less than twenty
thousand dollars to be approved as to form and sufficiency of sureties
thereon by the comptroller, conditioned for and guaranteeing the payment
of professional wrestler's purses, salaries of club employees licensed
by the commission, the legitimate expenses of printing tickets and all
advertising material, payments to sponsoring organizations, and the
applicable state and local sales and compensating use tax.
4. A licensed promoter of a professional wrestling exhibition shall
provide for a licensed physician to be present at each exhibition, and
such physician shall examine each wrestler prior to each performance,
and each such pre-performance examination shall be conducted in
accordance with regulations prescribed by the commission.
5. Every licensed promoter of professional wrestling who promotes six
or more exhibitions in the state in a calendar year must have in place
an anti-drug plan and file with the commission a written copy of the
plan. Each such plan shall address the use of a controlled substance
defined in article 33 of the public health law, and such plan shall at
minimum provide for the following:
(a) dissemination of educational materials to professional wrestlers
who perform for any such promoter including a list of prohibited drugs
and available rehabilitation services; and
(b) a referral procedure to permit any such professional wrestler to
obtain rehabilitation services.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 29. Notice of contest or exhibition; collection of tax. 1. Every
individual, corporation, association or club holding any professional or
amateur boxing, sparring or professional wrestling match or exhibition,
for which an admission fee is charged or received, shall notify the
athletic commission ten days in advance of the holding of such contest.
All tickets of admission to any such boxing, sparring or professional
wrestling match or exhibition shall be procured from a printer duly
authorized by the state athletic commission to print such tickets and
shall bear clearly upon the face thereof the purchase price and location
of same. Any individual, corporation, association or club failing to
fully comply with this section shall be subject to a penalty of fifty
dollars to be collected by and paid to the department of state. Any
individual, corporation, association or club is prohibited from
operating any shows or exhibitions until all penalties due pursuant to
this section and taxes, interest and penalties due pursuant to article
nineteen of the tax law have been paid.
2. Pursuant to direction by the commissioner of taxation and finance,
employees or officers of the athletic commission shall act as agents of
the commissioner of taxation and finance to collect the tax imposed by
article nineteen of the tax law. The athletic commission shall provide
the commissioner of taxation and finance with such information and
technical assistance as may be necessary for the proper administration
of such tax.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 30. Disposition of receipts. All receipts of the commission shall
be paid into the state treasury. Provided, however, that receipts from
the tax imposed by article nineteen of the tax law shall be deposited as
provided by section one hundred seventy-one-a of the tax law.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 31. Exceptions. The provisions of this act except as provided in
section 29 of this act shall not be construed to apply to any sparring
or boxing contest or exhibition conducted under the supervision or the
control of the New York state national guard or naval militia where all
of the contestants are members of the active militia; nor to any such
contest or exhibition where the contestants are all amateurs, sponsored
by or under the supervision of any university, college, school or other
institution of learning, recognized by the regents of the state of New
York; nor to any such contest or exhibitions where the contestants are
all amateurs sponsored by or under the supervision of the U. S. Amateur
Boxing Federation or its local affiliates or the American Olympic
Association; nor except as to the extent provided in sections 5, 9, 19,
20, 28-a, 28-b and 33 of this act, to any professional wrestling contest
or exhibition as defined in this act. For the purpose of this act, an
amateur is deemed to mean a person who engages in boxing, sparring or
wrestling contests and exhibitions where no cash prizes are awarded to
participants, and where the prize competed for shall not in value exceed
thirty-five dollars or, in boxing, a maximum amount established by the
U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation. Any individual, association, corporation
or club, except elementary or high schools or equivalent institutions of
learning recognized by the regents of the state of New York, who or
which conducts an amateur contest pursuant to this section must register
with the U. S. Amateur Boxing Federation or its local affiliates and
abide by its rules and regulations.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 32. Safety headgear. The commission shall undertake a study of
various types of safety headgear that may be used by boxers during the
course of a contest or bout. The commission shall develop, or shall
contract to develop, a safety headgear prototype during the course, and
in furtherance, of the study to be conducted hereunder. Such study shall
include the safety and effectiveness that the wearing of various types
of headgear may demonstrate, including the ramifications that the
wearing of headgear may have on the sport of boxing and the
psychological effect it may have on the boxers. The commission shall
make a written report of its findings from such study, including any
appropriate recommendations, to the governor and the legislature no
later than one year from the date this section takes effect.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 33. Misdemeanor. Any person or corporation who directly or
indirectly conducts, holds or gives boxing or sparring matches or
exhibitions or participates either directly or indirectly in any boxing
or sparring match or exhibition as a referee, judge, match-maker,
timekeeper, corporation treasurer, box office employee, professional
boxer, manager, trainer, second or announcer without first having
procured an appropriate license as prescribed in this act shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor. Any person, partnership or corporation who
promotes a professional wrestling match or exhibition in the state
without first having procured an appropriate license in accordance with
section 28-b of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to apply to amateur
exhibitions.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
* § 34. Regulation of boxing contracts and promotion of matches. 1. No
professional boxing match may occur in the state unless the organization
that promotes, sanctions or otherwise participates in the proposition,
selection, or arrangement of one or more boxers for a contest files with
the commission a written statement executed under penalty of perjury
stating (a) all charges, expenses, fees, and costs that will be assessed
against any boxer participating in the event; (b) all payments,
benefits, complimentary benefits and fees the organization or entity
will receive for its affiliation with the event; (c) the name of the
promoter; (d) sponsor of the event; and (e) all other sources, and such
other and additional information as required by the commission. Such
written statement shall be filed in a form and manner acceptable to the
commission.
2. No professional boxing match may occur in this state unless the
promoter, organizer, producer or another that participates in the
proposition, selection, or arrangement of one or more boxers for a
contest files with the commission a written statement under penalty of
perjury detailing all charges, fees, costs and expenses by or through
the promoter on the boxer pertaining to the event, including any portion
of the boxer's purse that the promoter will receive and training
expenses and all payments, gifts or benefits the promoter is providing
to any sanctioning organization affiliated with the event. Such written
statement shall be filed in a form and manner acceptable to the
commission.
3. No professional boxing match may occur in this state unless the
promoter, organizer, producer or another that participates in the
proposition, selection, or arrangement of one or more boxers for a
contest files with the commission a copy of any agreement in writing to
which the promoter is a party with any boxer participating in the match.
4. Any contract between a boxer and a promoter or manager shall
provide for specific limitation of option contracts between the boxer
and the promoter or between promoters with respect to a boxer, to no
more than one year, if the granting of such rights is required as a
condition to the boxer's participation in a contest, renewable only in
writing signed by both parties.
5. Any promoter exercising promotional rights with respect to a boxer
during the twelve month period beginning on the day after the last day
of the promotional right period described in subdivision four of this
section between a boxer and the promoter or manager may not secure
exclusive promotional rights from the boxer's opponents as a condition
of participating in a professional boxing match against the boxer, and
any contract to the contrary is contrary to public policy and
unenforceable.
6. Any specific agreement or any provisions in any agreement requiring
the hiring, retention, employment, or the receipt of compensation by any
relative, associate, or other individual in any capacity connected to
the promoter or manager is against public policy and unenforceable.
7. Any contract between a boxer and the promoter or manager shall be
in writing and filed with the commission at the time any agreement is
made for a match to take place in the state. All promoters or managers
shall also file with the commission complete and accurate copies of all
fees and costs that will be assessed against the boxer.
8. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to
any corporation or partnership which operates a facility used, among
other things, for the purposes of conducting, holding, presenting or
hosting professional boxing matches, provided such entity does not act
as a promoter regarding such matches.
* NB Repealed September 1, 2016
Last modified: February 3, 2019