Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4155 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R11074 DMS-F
2	2	By: Dutton H.B. No. 4155
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the regulation of athlete agents.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 2051.001, Occupations Code, is amended
10	10	by amending Subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) and adding Subdivisions
11	11	(3-a) and (5-b) to read as follows:
12	12	(1) "Agent contract" means a contract or an agreement
13	13	under which an athlete authorizes an athlete agent to negotiate or
14	14	solicit [for employment] on behalf of the athlete [with] a
15	15	professional sports services contract or endorsement contract
16	16	[team].
17	17	(2) "Athlete" means an individual who:
18	18	(A) is eligible to participate in
19	19	intercollegiate sports contests as a member of any [a] sports team
20	20	or as an individual competitor in any [a] sport at an institution of
21	21	higher education; or
22	22	(B) has participated as a member of any [an]
23	23	intercollegiate sports team or as an individual competitor in any
24	24	[an] intercollegiate sport at an institution of higher education
25	25	and has never signed an employment contract with a professional
26	26	sports team.
27	27	(3) "Athlete agent" means an individual other than a
28	28	spouse, parent, sibling, or guardian of a student athlete or an
29	29	individual acting solely on behalf of a professional sports team or
30	30	professional sports organization, who:
31	31	(A) [for compensation,] directly or indirectly
32	32	recruits or solicits an athlete to enter into an agent contract, a
33	33	financial services contract, or a professional sports services
34	34	contract with that individual or another person; [or]
35	35	(B) for compensation or in anticipation of
36	36	compensation [a fee,] procures, offers, promises, or attempts to
37	37	obtain employment for an athlete under [with] a professional sports
38	38	services contract or an endorsement contract; or
39	39	(C) represents to the public that the individual
40	40	is an athlete agent [team].
41	41	(3-a) "Endorsement contract" means an agreement under
42	42	which an athlete is employed or receives consideration in exchange
43	43	for providing on behalf of the other party the value of the
44	44	athlete's reputation, publicity, following, or fame obtained as a
45	45	result of athletic ability or performance.
46	46	(5-b) "Professional sports services contract" means
47	47	an agreement under which an individual is employed as a
48	48	professional athlete or agrees to render services as a player on a
49	49	foreign or domestic professional sports team or with a foreign or
50	50	domestic professional sports organization.
51	51	SECTION 2. Sections 2051.151(a) and (a-1), Occupations
52	52	Code, are amended to read as follows:
53	53	(a) An athlete agent shall, before contacting an athlete or
54	54	entering into an agent contract with an athlete in this state,
55	55	deposit with the secretary of state a surety bond or other security
56	56	in a form prescribed by the secretary of state, in the amount of
57	57	$50,000, payable to the state and conditioned on:
58	58	(1) the athlete agent complying with this chapter;
59	59	(2) the payment of any administrative penalty assessed
60	60	under Subchapter J; and
61	61	(3) the payment of any damages awarded to an
62	62	institution of higher education or an athlete as a result of the
63	63	athlete agent offering or providing a thing of value to an athlete
64	64	or a family member of the athlete.
65	65	(a-1) An athlete agent shall, before entering into a
66	66	financial services contract with an athlete, deposit with the
67	67	secretary of state a surety bond or other security in a form
68	68	prescribed by the secretary of state, in the amount of $100,000,
69	69	payable to the state and conditioned on:
70	70	(1) the athlete agent complying with this chapter;
71	71	(2) the payment of money owed to an individual or group
72	72	of individuals when the athlete agent or the athlete agent's
73	73	representative or agent receives the money; and
74	74	(3) the payment of damages to an athlete caused by the
75	75	intentional misrepresentation, fraud, deceit, or unlawful or
76	76	negligent act or omission of the athlete agent or of the athlete
77	77	agent's representative or employee while acting within the scope of
78	78	the financial services contract.
79	79	SECTION 3. Section 2051.351(a), Occupations Code, is
80	80	amended to read as follows:
81	81	(a) An athlete agent may not:
82	82	(1) publish or cause to be published:
83	83	(A) false, fraudulent, or misleading
84	84	information; or
85	85	(B) a false, fraudulent, or misleading:
86	86	(i) representation;
87	87	(ii) notice; or
88	88	(iii) advertisement;
89	89	(2) provide false information;
90	90	(3) make a false promise or representation relating to
91	91	employment;
92	92	(4) divide fees with or receive compensation from:
93	93	(A) a person exempt from registration under this
94	94	chapter under Section 2051.005;
95	95	(B) a professional sports league or franchise,
96	96	including a representative or employee of the league or franchise;
97	97	or
98	98	(C) an institution of higher education,
99	99	including a representative or employee of the institution's
100	100	athletics department;
101	101	(5) enter into a written or oral agreement with an
102	102	employee of an institution of higher education in which the athlete
103	103	agent offers a thing of value to the employee for the referral of
104	104	clients by the employee;
105	105	(6) before an athlete completes the athlete's last
106	106	intercollegiate sports contest in any sport for which the athlete
107	107	may be eligible, offer a thing of value to the athlete or an
108	108	individual related to the athlete within the second degree by
109	109	affinity or consanguinity to induce the athlete to enter into an
110	110	agreement with the athlete agent in which the athlete agent will
111	111	represent the athlete;
112	112	(7) before an athlete completes the athlete's last
113	113	intercollegiate sports contest in any sport for which the athlete
114	114	may be eligible, furnish a thing of value to the athlete or an
115	115	individual related to the athlete within the second degree by
116	116	affinity or consanguinity;
117	117	(8) except as provided by this chapter, before an
118	118	athlete completes the athlete's last intercollegiate sports
119	119	contest in any sport for which the athlete may be eligible:
120	120	(A) directly contact the athlete; or
121	121	(B) enter into an oral or written agreement with
122	122	the athlete for the athlete agent to represent the athlete;
123	123	(9) furnish anything of value to any person other than
124	124	the athlete or another registered athlete agent to induce an
125	125	athlete to enter into an agreement with the athlete agent;
126	126	(10) initiate any contact with an athlete, except as
127	127	authorized by this chapter;
128	128	(11) fail to retain or permit inspection of the
129	129	records required to be retained by Section 2051.352;
130	130	(12) predate or postdate an agent contract;
131	131	(13) fail to notify an athlete before the athlete
132	132	signs an agent contract that the signing may make the athlete
133	133	ineligible to participate in intercollegiate sports; or
134	134	(14) commit an act or cause a person to commit an act
135	135	on the athlete agent's behalf that causes an athlete to violate a
136	136	rule of the national association for the promotion and regulation
137	137	of intercollegiate athletics of which the athlete's institution of
138	138	higher education is a member.
139	139	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.