---
kind: "section"
citation: "28 U.S.C. § 3701"
title: "28"
title_heading: "Judiciary and Judicial Procedure"
number: "3701"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/28/3701"
units:
  - "Part VI — Particular Proceedings"
  - "Chapter 178 — Professional and Amateur Sports Protection"
---

# §3701. Definitions


For purposes of this chapter—

- (1) the term “amateur sports organization” means—
  - (A) a [person](/usc/28/3002.md?p=10) or [governmental entity](#2) that sponsors, organizes, schedules, or conducts a competitive game in which one or more amateur athletes participate, or
  - (B) a league or association of [persons](/usc/28/3002.md?p=10) or [governmental entities](#2) described in [subparagraph (A)](#1-A),
- (2) the term “governmental entity” means a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14), a political subdivision of a [State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14), or an entity or organization, including an entity or organization described in section 4(5) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ([25 U.S.C. 2703(5)](/usc/25/2703.md?p=5)), that has governmental authority within the territorial boundaries of the [United States](/usc/28/3002.md?p=15), including on lands described in [section 4(4)](/usc/28/4.md) of such Act ([25 U.S.C. 2703(4)](/usc/25/2703.md?p=4)),
- (3) the term “professional sports organization” means—
  - (A) a [person](/usc/28/3002.md?p=10) or [governmental entity](#2) that sponsors, organizes, schedules, or conducts a competitive game in which one or more professional athletes participate, or
  - (B) a league or association of [persons](/usc/28/3002.md?p=10) or [governmental entities](#2) described in [subparagraph (A)](#3-A),
- (4) the term “[person](/usc/28/3002.md?p=10)” has the meaning given such term in [section 1 of title 1](/usc/1/1.md), and
- (5) the term “[State](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14)” means any of the several [States](/usc/28/3002.md?p=14), the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, or any territory or possession of the [United States](/usc/28/3002.md?p=15).

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 102–559, § 2(a), Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4227.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Constitutionality

For information regarding the constitutionality of certain provisions of this chapter, see the Table of Laws Held Unconstitutional in Whole or in Part by the Supreme Court on the Constitution Annotated website, constitution.congress.gov.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 102–559, § 3, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 4229, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and provisions set out as a note under section 1 of this title] shall take effect on January 1, 1993.”