Title 15Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§1293 Intercollegiate and interscholastic football contest limitations

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 32— - TELECASTING OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS CONTESTS › § 1293

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A usual ban on showing pro football games at certain times does not block agreements that let a pro game be telecast after 6 p.m. on a Friday or on any Saturday from the second Friday in September through the second Saturday in December, if the TV station is within 75 miles of a college or high-school game happening that same day. The college must be a four-year degree-granting school, the high schools must be state-accredited and offer up to 12th grade, and the game and its location must have been listed in a general newspaper as regularly scheduled before August 1 of that year.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §1293

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The first sentence of section 1291 of this title shall not apply to any joint agreement described in such section which permits the telecasting of all or a substantial part of any professional football game on any Friday after six o’clock postmeridian or on any Saturday during the period beginning on the second Friday in September and ending on the second Saturday in December in any year from any telecasting station located within seventy-five miles of the game site of any intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest scheduled to be played on such a date if—
(1)such intercollegiate football contest is between institutions of higher learning both of which confer degrees upon students following completion of sufficient credit hours to equal a four-year course, or
(2)in the case of an interscholastic football contest, such contest is between secondary schools, both of which are accredited or certified under the laws of the State or States in which they are situated and offer courses continuing through the twelfth grade of the standard school curriculum, or the equivalent, and
(3)such intercollegiate or interscholastic football contest and such game site were announced through publication in a newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1 of such year as being regularly scheduled for such day and place.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1966—Pub. L. 89–800 substituted “The first sentence of section 1291 of this title” for “section 1291 of this title” at beginning of section, extended limitation granted for football contests on game sites located within 75 miles of telecasting stations to include interscholastic contests, redesignated cl. (2) as (3), added a new cl. (2), and, in cl. (3) as so redesignated, substituted “newspaper of general circulation prior to August 1” for “daily newspaper of general circulation prior to March 1” as description of the type newspaper required for the announcement of the game site of intercollegiate or interscholastic football games.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 1293

Title 15Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73