MLB Players Association Suing DraftKings, FanDuel Over Use of Player Images

The Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) filed two separate lawsuits on Monday, suing several major players in the sports betting industry for using the names and likenesses of players without permission to do so.

The MLBPA filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and the bet365 Group in a federal court in Philadelphia, while also suing FanDuel and Underdog Fantasy in a New York state court in Manhattan.

MLBPA: Player Images are Promotional, Not Informational

Both lawsuits seek compensatory and punitive damages from the betting companies. The lawsuits were filed by MLB Players Inc., which handles business matters for the players’ union.

According to the lawsuit, the images were used without being licensed by the MLBPA and are completely unnecessary for the offering of prop bets and other wagering options on the sites.

“Defendants’ use of player images within their sportsbook platforms is not merely informational—it is promotional,” the lawsuit reads. 

“There is no other purpose for using popular MLB player names and images in advertising other than to increase the consumer appeal of the apps and draw users to make bets on the platforms, particularly given that the core information that bettors need in order to make informed decisions about placing sports bets is statistical data.”

The MLBPA also expressed concern that using the images could be construed as an endorsement of individual betting platforms or sports betting in general.

“For professional athletes, the ability to control the commercial use of their names, images, and likenesses is a crucial return on their substantial career investment,” the MLBPA said, via ESPN.

The lawsuits seek jury trials and say that monetary damages could exceed $150,000 in total.

In the lawsuits, the MLBPA notes that the platforms don’t use images for NFL players, further suggesting that there’s no reason to include MLB player images alongside associated bets.

Leagues Cracking Down on Use of Player Likenesses

Even without those images, NFL players have had their own issues with online gambling platforms. Last month, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) sued DraftKings for using player images on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) without fully compensating them. DraftKings closed its NFT marketplace earlier this year, but the NFLPA says that the company still owes players about $65 million in minimum guaranteed payments.

“The impetus for DraftKings’ decision to repudiate its license agreement with Plaintiffs is simple: the once white-hot market for NFTs has cooled down,” NFLPA attorneys wrote in a complaint filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York. 

“DraftKings is also facing a civil lawsuit and regulatory inquiries into its product. Buyers’ remorse, however, is not a basis to terminate a contract.”

Major League Baseball has also taken a stronger stance on player name, image, and likeness rights this season. In August, the MLBPA filed a lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Pirates and local gas station chain Sheetz over the wrongful use of player likenesses in a jersey advertisement deal. According to the MLBPA, the Pirates, and Sheetz only had authorization to use two players or fewer in the campaign. The parties settled the lawsuit out of court.