FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 21, 2018
Contact: Aaron Manogue
(608) 310-7547 – media@thefsga.org
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) announced Monday that it has filed an amicus brief in support of the fantasy sports industry in the Indiana Supreme Court case, Akeem Daniels, Cameron Stingily and Nicholas Stoner v. FanDuel, Inc., and DraftKings, Inc.
This case threatens the viability of all fantasy sports companies because the plaintiffs-appellants are attempting to restrict the use of player names, pictures and statistics.
Player names, pictures and statistics are at the heart of virtually every fantasy sports company and have been appearing in news stories and box scores for over 100 years. The results of sporting events have always been considered newsworthy, and remain so now.
A decade ago, the fantasy sports industry successfully rebuffed a similar case, as leagues and players unions attempted to monopolize the use of player names and statistics. Because the fantasy sports industry prevailed, hundreds of fantasy sports companies have flourished, providing a wide variety of games, contests, analytics, tools and content.
In that case, CBC v. MLBAM, the industry was represented by Rudy Telscher and Kara Fussner at Husch Blackwell. The FSTA has retained Mr. Telscher and Ms. Fussner to again represent the best interests of the fantasy sports industry and the 53.5M U.S. fantasy sports players.
The FSTA will continue to represent the interests of its membership in this case.
The case will be covered extensively at the FSTA Summer Conference, June 19-20 in Minneapolis in a panel led by Mr. Telscher. You can review the conference agenda and register to attend at https://fstaconference.com/.