Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) All licensed promoters of authorized
combative sports and professional wrestling shall continuously provide accident
insurance or such other form of financial guarantee deemed acceptable by the
Commission, for the protection of licensed professionals and wrestlers
appearing in authorized professional combative sports matches or professional
wrestling exhibitions.
(b) Pursuant
to subdivision a of this section, the following accident insurance coverage
must be provided by a licensed promoter of authorized combative sports to all
licensed professionals participating in any match, exhibition, or bout in this
state promoted by or held under the control of such promoter:
(1) coverage for medical, surgical and
hospital care, with a minimum limit of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for
injuries sustained while participating in any program operated under the
promotion or control of such licensed promoter;
(2) coverage for payment of a death benefit
of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) payable to the estate of the licensed
professional for death occasioned by injuries received during the course of a
program in this state in which such licensed professional participated under
the promotion or control of the licensed promoter; and
(3) coverage for medical, surgical and
hospital care with a minimum limit of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the
treatment of any life-threatening brain injury sustained in a program operated
under the control of such licensed promoter, where an identifiable, causal link
exists between the professional licensee's participation in such program and
the life-threatening brain injury.
(c) Pursuant to subdivision a of this
section, a licensed promoter of professional wrestling shall provide the
following accident insurance coverage to all wrestlers participating in any
professional wrestling exhibition in this state promoted by or held under the
control of such promoter:
(1) coverage for
medical, surgical and hospital care, with a minimum limit of ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) for injuries sustained by the wrestler while participating in
a professional wrestling program operated under the promotion or control of
such licensed promoter; and
(2)
coverage for payment of a death benefit of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
payable to the estate of the wrestler for death occasioned by injuries received
during the course of a professional wrestling program in this state in which
such wrestler participated under the promotion or control of the licensed
promoter.
(d) All such
accident insurance as required in subdivisions a, b and c of this section
shall, up to the maximum limits of the policy:
(1) provide coverage for all medically
necessary care and treatment for covered injuries; and
(2) provide benefits on an expense incurred
basis. Such coverage may be primary or secondary to any other applicable
insurance coverage held by the licensed professional or wrestler
participant.
(e)
Pursuant to subdivision a of this section, in the event a licensed promoter
provides the Commission with proof that a professional licensee has health
insurance coverage that meets or exceeds the terms of the applicable minimum
coverage required by paragraph 3 of subdivision b of this section, proof of
such insurance may be accepted by the Commission in advance of an authorized
covered combative sport event as constituting an acceptable alternative in lieu
of the accident insurance otherwise required by paragraph 3 of subdivision b of
this section.
(f) For purposes of
this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) "continuously" shall mean at all times
during a licensed professional's or wrestler's participation in an authorized
covered combative sports or professional wrestling match or exhibition held in
this state under the promotion or control of the licensed promoter;
(2) "identifiable, causal link" shall mean
that the injuries sustained by the licensed professional during his or her
participation in the authorized covered combative sports program were the
direct and proximate cause of the life-threatening brain injury;
(3) "life-threatening brain injury" shall
mean an acute brain injury that, in the opinion of the professional licensee's
treating physician, would result in the death of the professional licensee if
left untreated;
(4) "physician"
shall mean a practitioner of medicine licensed to practice medicine under the
laws of the state, country or territory where his or her medical services are
performed and who is acting within the scope of such medical license at the
time and place medical services are rendered. In the event medical services are
performed in New York State, "physician" shall mean a practitioner of medicine
licensed to practice medicine pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of the
Education Law;
(5) "program" shall
mean any authorized covered professional combative sports or professional
wrestling match or exhibition; and
(6) "sustained in a program operated under
the control of such licensed promoter" shall mean that the symptoms of the
life-threatening brain injury must first manifest themselves during, or within
twenty-four hours after the end of, the licensed professional's participation
in the covered program, and the injury must be diagnosed by a physician during,
or within forty-eight hours after the end of, the licensed professional's
participation in the covered program.
