Online Fantasy Sports Under Fire

Published: Friday, August 11, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

ONLINE FANTASY SPORTS UNDER FIRE

Major League Baseball to appeal federal ruling

A US federal court ruling that online fantasy baseball businesses can use names and statistics without paying for a licensing agreement has fired up Major League Baseball in the USA, spurring the body to appeal the case.

MLB and its players' union expect to win back the right to demand money from fantasy sites like St. Louis-based CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc., which prevailed in its lawsuit in a federal court's summary judgment issued this week.

CBC, which runs CDM Fantasy Sports, sued MLB Advanced Media last year, claiming the statistics and names used in fantasy baseball should be free.

"We are disappointed by the Court's decision yesterday," the MLB said in a statement after the case was heard. "We expect to appeal the decision, and remain confident that we will prevail in that effort. We continue to believe that the use of the players, without their consent, to create this type of commercial venture is improper."

The ruling has been called a defining moment for millions of fantasy sports players and the more than 300 online leagues that run them. But it is unknown who will ultimately win or how it will impact the growing fantasy sports industry, which players spend about $1billion on annually.

Big time fantasy sports league providers such as Yahoo, ESPN and CBS Sportsline are trying to sort out what Tuesday's federal court ruling could mean for their current MLB licensing agreements reported to be worth roughly $2million a year to use names, statistics, team logos and images on fantasy sites.