Courts Give Fantasy Sports Leagues Free Access to Player Stats

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 3, 2008 - 10:28am.

Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from Major League Baseball in a move that will give fantasy sports leagues the rights to use players' names and statistics without paying a license fee. The initial court ruling in favor of fantasy sports league operators came in 2005, and MLB and its players' association appealed to the Supreme Court in February, arguing that players should retain control over the use of their names and likenesses, and that such licenses are worth billions of dollars.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis found that use of players' names and statistics deserved First Amendment free speech protections.

MLB had been harmoniously licensing most fantasy leagues before 2005, but was sued after it attempted to restrict the number of leagues it would license.

It remains to be seen whether major fantasy sports league providers like ESPN and CBS will continue to pay their licensing fees to MLB.

CBSSports.com (NYSE: CBS) on Tuesday opened up its fantasy sports news and information site for the entire industry to use, meaning that fantasy sports players from any league can use its news and data for free.

The site will cover pro and college football and basketball, baseball, hockey, golf and auto racing.