Fantasy Sports is About to Expode
Early this month, the United States Supreme Court rebuffed Major League Baseball by upholding a lower court ruling that lets a fantasy sports company use players names and statistics without paying licensing fees. Score one for the little guy. Fantasy sport leaugues now generate about $500 million a year worldwide in fees, advertising and other revenue according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. Major League Baseball claimed that CBC Distribution and Marketing Inc. violated the players under Missouri law.
According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, 19.4 million people in the United States engage in fantasy sports activities. Considering the fact that 100 million people in the United States bet on sports, fantasy sports is a big business which is about to get much bigger. Look for the online portals and the Googles of the world to push hard into this business.
I guess with the Supreme Courts Decision in hand, I think that major league baseball should have taken another stance. What is the difference between fantasy sports and sports gambling which is illegal in all states except Nevada? Here are 3 definitions of gambling:
To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
To play a game of chance for stakes.
To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
It seems to me that Fantasy sports is certainly applicable to number 2 and even number 3 because I know some fantasy sports junkies who get more benefit from this than a good payday. It looks like major league baseball lawyers screwed up here. Look for a few attorney generals to take a shot at this angle. That’s a good bet.
