Pritzker Legal Research Center: Dispute Resolution in Sports: Legislation and Legislative History

Major Legislation

The following are some of the major United States federal laws relating to sports. To locate cases and/or secondary sources that have interpreted these statutes, use KeyCite on Westlaw Edge or Shepard's on Lexis+.

Amateur Sports Act of 1978 (36 U.S.C. § 220501 et seq.)

Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C § 12101 et seq.)

Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 (15 U.S.C. § 12 et seq.)

Curtis Flood Act of 1998 (15 U.S.C. § 26b et seq.)

Sherman Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.)

Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (15 U.S.C. 1291 § et seq.)

Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. § 1681)

Researching Legislative History

The following databases are excellent resources for researching federal legislative history. If you have any questions about this type of research, feel free to ask a law librarian or view the Law Library's "Federal Legislative History" research guide.

HeinOnline's U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
"In addition to the inclusion of comprehensive federal legislative histories published by the U.S. GPO and private publishers, this library also includes a unique finding aid based on Nancy Johnson’s award-winning work, Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories. Researchers should begin their U.S. federal legislative history research with this finding aid, which often includes references to law review articles on-point to a particular legislative history.
ProQuest Congressional
"Provides access to U.S. Congressional publications, as well as to Congressional committee testimony, legislative histories for U.S. statutes, bill tracking for pending legislation, and more."
Westlaw Edge: U.S. GAO Federal Legislative Histories
"Comprehensive legislative histories for most U.S. Public Laws enacted from 1921 to 1995, and PL 104-191, as compiled by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, including the text of laws, bills, committee reports, Congressional Record documents, transcripts of hearings, and other documents in pdf format."

State Legislation

If you are looking to research state legislation on a sports law-related issue, the following is an excellent starting point. Use the "Browse the Subjects" tool to find links to compilations of state laws on topics including sports agents, sports betting, sports bribery, and sports officials.

HeinOnline's Subject Compilation of State Laws

Uniform Laws

Revised Uniform Athletes Agent Act
"The Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act (RUAAA) is an update of the Uniform Athlete Agents Act of 2000, which has been enacted in 42 states. The 2000 Act governs relations among student athletes, athlete agents, and educational institutions, protecting the interests of student athletes and academic institutions by regulating the activities of athlete agents. The Revised Act makes numerous changes to the original act, including expanding the definition of “athlete agent” and “student athlete;” providing for reciprocal registration between states; adding new requirements to the signing of an agency contract; and expanding notification requirements."
Uniform Laws Annotated - Revised Uniform Athletes Agent Act
This annotated version of the Uniform Athletes Agents Act, available on Westlaw Edge, allows you to find cases and secondary sources that have interpreted the Act.