§ 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.