PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 4515 PRINTER'S NO. 4541
No. 892 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY COSTA, DeLUCA, DONATUCCI, GRUCELA, PALLONE, BOYD,
CREIGHTON, J. EVANS, FABRIZIO, GEIST, GEORGE, GODSHALL,
GOODMAN, HARRIS, HORSEY, KELLER, KILLION, LEACH, LESCOVITZ,
LEWIS, MAITLAND, MARSICO, MUSTIO, ROBERTS, SAINATO, SCHRODER,
WALKO, YOUNGBLOOD, ZUG, PISTELLA AND S. H. SMITH,
OCTOBER 18, 2004
AS AMENDED, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OCTOBER 18, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the National Football League to reevaluate its
2 restrictions on local access to broadcasts of professional
3 football contests within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
4 WHEREAS, The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles
5 professional football teams reside within the Commonwealth of
6 Pennsylvania; and
7 WHEREAS, Fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia
8 Eagles contribute to the economic stability of the Commonwealth
9 of Pennsylvania; and
10 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has dedicated
11 taxpayer money to build professional sports stadiums within this
12 Commonwealth; and
13 WHEREAS, Professional football has become the premier sport
14 within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with annual revenues
15 exceeding $1.2 billion in 2003; and
16 WHEREAS, The broadcasting of Pittsburgh Steelers and
1 Philadelphia Eagles professional football contests benefits fans
2 of the teams; and
3 WHEREAS, Central Pennsylvania's television broadcasters, <--
4 located within 75 miles of Baltimore, are subject to the
5 National Football League's blackout rules; and
6 WHEREAS, A LARGE NUMBER OF PENNSYLVANIA'S TELEVISION <--
7 BROADCAST MARKETS ARE LOCATED WITHIN 75 MILES OF BALTIMORE,
8 MARYLAND, NEW YORK CITY AND BUFFALO, NEW YORK, AND ARE SUBJECT
9 TO THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE'S BROADCAST RESTRICTIONS; AND
10 WHEREAS, The broadcasting of the Baltimore Ravens, NEW YORK <--
11 GIANTS, NEW YORK JETS AND BUFFALO BILLS professional football
12 contests has little direct positive effect on the citizens of
13 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
14 WHEREAS, Federal law allows professional sports leagues to
15 manipulate broadcasts of professional football contests to
16 benefit local teams; and
17 WHEREAS, The professional sports industry is the only
18 industry receiving an exemption from antitrust laws for joint
19 marketing of television rights under the act of September 30,
20 1961 (75 Stat. 732, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1291-1295); and
21 WHEREAS, The legislative intent behind that Federal law was
22 to help foster a professional league by ensuring physical
23 attendance at games; and
24 WHEREAS, Such legislative intent has become antiquated; and
25 WHEREAS, There is no recent corroborative evidence suggesting
26 that blackouts of RESTRICTIONS ON professional football contests <--
27 result in a dramatic change in attendance of those contests; and
28 WHEREAS, The National Football League may arbitrarily rescind
29 blackout BROADCAST restrictions for any broadcast market; <--
30 therefore be it
20040H0892R4541 - 2 -
1 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
2 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the National Football League
3 to rescind its rules regarding local access to broadcasts of the
4 Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles professional
5 football contests; and be it further
6 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
7 the National Football League, 410 Park Avenue, New York, NY
8 10022, EACH MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND THE LEGISLATURE OF EACH <--
9 STATE.
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