Lawsuit Alleges Sportsbooks Profiting of Players Images
The lawsuit's core issue is the amount of money being made from the name and image of MLB players. They believe that operators are doing this to give them the impression that they are closely tied to the league to attract more baseball bettors.
“Indeed, neither DraftKings Sportsbook nor the bet365 platforms feature player images of any kind for football, despite the fact that the 2024-25 NFL season recently began and the same types and breadth of bets are available on the platforms for football as they are for baseball, and despite the fact that the NFL is the most popular sport to bet on in America,” The lawsuit reads. “Defendants are instead using MLB player images on their platforms for their own commercial advantage, as a means of associating their platforms more closely with these MLB players, to promote the use of their platforms and entice users to place bets when on the websites or apps.”
Union Points to Operators’ Practice With NFL
The players' union called out the four operators for using different standards when dealing with the NFL. The operators do not use player images when offering NFL player prop bets, which contrasts with how they approach MLB.
The different tactic means that the operators likely believed they could get away with using the images without a licensing deal. While that belief has held true for a few years, it appears the platers' union is ready to end the practice.
NIL Crackdowns Continue Across MLB
This lawsuit is just the latest effort by the union to restrict the use of its players’ images. They have filed a flurry of lawsuits across the country over NIL issues, showing they are going on the offensive.
While we don’t know how the most recent lawsuits will pan out, the Union successfully settled a NIL lawsuit out of court a month ago. We would not be surprised if the four operators who are now targeted decide to take the same route.
