MILWAUKEE - The $500 million a year fantasy sports business received a huge boost on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Major League Baseball and its players union over the use of player names and their statistics.
Without comment, the justices refused to step into the dispute, giving the owners and operators of countless sports fantasy companies the opportunity to operate without having to pay to be licensed by baseball.
Jeff Thomas, a Kenosha, Wis.-based operator of two fantasy sports Web sites and president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, said the decision was a victory for free speech and "marks potentially the single biggest day in the history of the fantasy sports history."
"This is huge," Thomas said. "It says we can use names and historical statistics, and that’s all we do with them."
In fantasy sports, participants act as owners or managers of a sports team, and track how the players they have perform statistically. The statistical performance is converted into points, which are compiled and totaled.
"This decision basically says anyone can run a fantasy sports game," added Derrick Eckardt, who runs RotoNation.com, a fantasy sports news site.
The decision also is good news for the estimated 19.5 million people who regularly play fantasy baseball and other fantasy-based sports. Fantasy sports operators said they would now be free to innovate and improve their Web sites, which will ultimately benefit players.
"I’ve never been sent a letter by Major League Baseball," said Ted Kasten, who runs PlayerSearch.com and DraftDynamix.com out of Chicago. "That dark cloud was always there. Now it seems as if we can go forward."
Matt Gould, spokesman for the interactive media and Internet division of Major League Baseball, deferred comment to the players union. Greg Bouris, a spokesman for the players union, said the union was considering its options.
The case involved C.B.C. Distribution, a Missouri holding company doing business as CDM Fantasy Sports. Four years ago, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, representing the players and teams, signed licensing deals with major players in the business, including Yahoo, ESPN and others. At the same time, baseball ended deals with smaller outfits.
CDM went to court and won a series of victories, culminating in the high court’s decision Monday to pass on the case. In the most recent court case, the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in favor of the fantasy sports business, saying that enforcing Missouri state law would violate C.B.C.’s right of free speech.
CDM lawyers consistently argued that fantasy sports sites were merely using the names and statistics of players the same way newspapers and other media outlets do. Baseball argued that the fantasy sites were using the names of athletes in the manner of a consumer product.
In the court fight, other major sports, including the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League filed friend of the court briefs in support of baseball.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view.bg?articleid=1098320
Without comment, the justices refused to step into the dispute, giving the owners and operators of countless sports fantasy companies the opportunity to operate without having to pay to be licensed by baseball.
Jeff Thomas, a Kenosha, Wis.-based operator of two fantasy sports Web sites and president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, said the decision was a victory for free speech and "marks potentially the single biggest day in the history of the fantasy sports history."
"This is huge," Thomas said. "It says we can use names and historical statistics, and that’s all we do with them."
In fantasy sports, participants act as owners or managers of a sports team, and track how the players they have perform statistically. The statistical performance is converted into points, which are compiled and totaled.
"This decision basically says anyone can run a fantasy sports game," added Derrick Eckardt, who runs RotoNation.com, a fantasy sports news site.
The decision also is good news for the estimated 19.5 million people who regularly play fantasy baseball and other fantasy-based sports. Fantasy sports operators said they would now be free to innovate and improve their Web sites, which will ultimately benefit players.
"I’ve never been sent a letter by Major League Baseball," said Ted Kasten, who runs PlayerSearch.com and DraftDynamix.com out of Chicago. "That dark cloud was always there. Now it seems as if we can go forward."
Matt Gould, spokesman for the interactive media and Internet division of Major League Baseball, deferred comment to the players union. Greg Bouris, a spokesman for the players union, said the union was considering its options.
The case involved C.B.C. Distribution, a Missouri holding company doing business as CDM Fantasy Sports. Four years ago, Major League Baseball Advanced Media, representing the players and teams, signed licensing deals with major players in the business, including Yahoo, ESPN and others. At the same time, baseball ended deals with smaller outfits.
CDM went to court and won a series of victories, culminating in the high court’s decision Monday to pass on the case. In the most recent court case, the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in St. Louis ruled in favor of the fantasy sports business, saying that enforcing Missouri state law would violate C.B.C.’s right of free speech.
CDM lawyers consistently argued that fantasy sports sites were merely using the names and statistics of players the same way newspapers and other media outlets do. Baseball argued that the fantasy sites were using the names of athletes in the manner of a consumer product.
In the court fight, other major sports, including the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League filed friend of the court briefs in support of baseball.
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http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view.bg?articleid=1098320
