N.Y. General Business Law § 1017: Professional wrestling; promoters

§ 1017. Professional wrestling; promoters. 1. For the purposes of this

article, "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 article.

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 thirty-three 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.