Authorization from Director required; bond; physical examination; emergency medical services vehicles; physician; health insurance

A. No person shall act as a promoter, matchmaker, trainer, boxer, martial artist, or professional wrestler in the Commonwealth without first having obtained authorization for such activity from the Department or sanctioning organization approved by the Director pursuant to § 54.1-829.1 and such authorization remains in full force and effect.

B. No authorization to act as a promoter shall be granted unless the applicant executes and files with the Department a bond, in such penalty as the Department shall determine through regulation, conditioned on the payment of the fees and penalties imposed by this chapter and for the fulfillment of contracts made with professional contestants in accordance with Department regulations. This subsection shall not apply to a promoter applying to conduct an amateur-only event under the authority of a sanctioning organization approved by the Director pursuant to § 54.1-829.1 .

C. Each boxer and martial artist shall, and each professional wrestler may, be examined prior to entering the ring by a physician who has held a license to practice medicine for at least three years in any jurisdiction of the United States and who is currently licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth. The physician shall be approved by the Director and shall certify in writing that the contestant's physical condition is such that he is physically able to engage in the contest.

D. No event in which boxers or martial artists are contestants shall be conducted without the continuous presence at ringside of a physician who has held a license to practice medicine for at least three years in any jurisdiction of the United States and who is currently licensed to practice medicine in the Commonwealth, and unless an emergency medical services vehicle is at the site of the event.

E. No boxer or martial artist shall participate in any event unless covered by a health insurance policy with minimum coverage in an amount determined by Department regulation.

1998, c. 895 ; 2007, c. 853 ; 2015, cc. 216 , 264 , 502 , 503 ; 2016, c. 756 ; 2025, cc. 95 , 111 .