Members of Congress have called for hearings into the daily fantasy sports industry, and FanDuel and DraftKings have attracted the attention of regulators in several states.
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It should be noted that FanDuel is a sponsor of SB Nation and Hogs Haven, as you have no doubt seen if you have been to the site at all this season. As a result of these activities, FanDuel daily fantasy contests have shown increasing revenues leading to large profits.
FanDuel has no such agreement, Garçon’s lawyer said. Unsurprisingly, all we know is that Garcon and the NFLPA think that they have grounds and FanDuel disagrees. Sports Illustrated also has a partnership with DailyMVP, another daily fantasy sports provider.
The suit claims that daily fantasy games put forth by the two companies are misrepresented as fair.
The Justice Department and the FBI are investigating the industry, according to media reports.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court of Maryland, alleges that FanDuel benefits from the performance and popularity of the players without a license and, through a “comprehensive television advertising campaign”, FanDuel uses the “names and likenesses of a few of these National Football League players without authorization to promote FanDuel’s commercial enterprise”. Users can win cash prizes by paying to enter leagues where they select players within the limits of a salary cap on a daily, or weekly, basis, in the case of the NFL. DraftKings has a marketing relationship with the NFL Players Association, which allows the company to put players such as Rob Gronkowski in its advertising. Numerous most common advertisements employ the use of players’ names and likenesses, forming the foundation of Garcon’s grievance.
Also interesting? It seems Garcon had a few sort of deal with FanDuel a year ago.
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Michael McCann is a Massachusetts attorney and the founding director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire School of Law.
