Delaware Becomes Number 14 in Legalizing Daily Fantasy Sports

Delaware Governor John Carney signed House Bill 249, making Delaware the latest state to legalize daily fantasy sports. Delaware became the fourteenth state to formally legalize the activity and the fourth state this year. The bill classifies daily fantasy sports as games of skill, rather than gambling, and will take effect before the start of the upcoming football season.

The law attaches several regulations to the online fantasy sports. An operator, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, will have to apply for a license and pay …

August 2, 2017 Sports Betting

Indian Gaming Association Latest to Join Coalition to Legalize Sports Gambling

On June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court agreed to tackle the hotly debated question of whether the federal government should be able to prohibit states from legalizing sports gambling. The lawsuit commenced six years ago, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie implemented a state law that would enable New Jersey casinos and racetracks to offer sports wagers. That New Jersey law was then challenged by the NCAA and “Big Four” of professional sports leagues, the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. The opposition argued that the …

August 1, 2017 Trademark

Start Your Engines: Legal Battle Over Earnhardt Name Revived

Kerry Earnhardt, the late Dale Earnhardt’s eldest son, applied through his Kerry Earnhardt Inc. company in 2011 to register “Earnhardt Collection” for both furniture and custom home design. In 2012, Dale Earnhardt’s widow and third wife, Theresa Earnhardt, filed an opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) seeking to block Kerry’s application. Theresa is Kerry’s stepmother and owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc., and already own a number of “Earnhardt” registrations for a wide variety of goods.

In February of 2016, the TTAB dismissed …

July 28, 2017 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

Titleist Calls Out Website Over Rules Violation for Product Line

On July 13, 2017, Titleist’s parent company, Acushnet Co., filed a complaint in Massachusetts federal court against imadebogey.com’s owner, Benjamin Russell, alleging his products infringe Titleist’s classic marks and offend its customers. The complaint cites unfair competition, trademark infringement and dilution. Imadebogey.com sells golf hats and other accessories with the words “Titties” and “Titlost” instead of “Titleist” in the same distinctive stylized script as the 84-year-old logo, including shirts and beer koozies. These are just some of their golf-related products sold on the website that …

July 25, 2017 Concussions / NFL

After Review, Ruling Linking Football to CTE Stands

On Tuesday, July 25, 2017, Dr. Ann McKee published the continuation of a study that began eight years ago, where McKee and fellow researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University published study results revealing that 87 of 91 former NFL players had CTE. The most recent update to that study, which was published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 177 of 202, or nearly 88 percent, of deceased football players had CTE. Of those brains tested, 110 of …

July 25, 2017 Uncategorized

Game, Set, a Fixed Match? Three Wimbledon Matches and One French Open Match Under Investigation

he Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) is investigating three Wimbledon matches and one French Open match for potential match-fixing. Two of the Wimbledon matches were in the qualifying tournament, with the third being in the main draw. These four matches all looked suspicious due to abnormal betting patterns. Sports betting companies and regulators tipped off the TIU. The alerts are not evidence of any match-fixing, however they are an indicator for further investigation. The TIU has to look at what other conditions were in play, such …

July 24, 2017 Fantasy Sports

FTC Pressure Forces DFS Giants to Cancel Merger Plans

Last November, FanDuel and DraftKings announced their plan to merge, and sought to combine the two largest operators of paid fantasy daily sports. The agreement came amidst scrutiny from several state attorneys general and other regulators over the legality of daily fantasy sports. On July 13, 2017, the two daily fantasy sports giants announced they would no longer pursue their plan to join forces.

The most recent announcement came after the FTC filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel in June, saying the two …

July 18, 2017 eSports

Robert Kraft One of First to Tackle Ownership of New eSports League

Videogame maker Activision Blizzard Inc. announced on Wednesday, July 12, 2017, that seven international cities that will field teams for its upcoming Overwatch League, with buyers including New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, and chief operating officer for the New York Mets, Jeff Wilpon. Kraft will have ownership rights to a Boston-based team, and Wilpon will help field a team based in New York. Other cities will include Los Angeles, Miami-Orlando, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Seoul.

The buy-in price for Los Angeles-based Immortals and …

July 17, 2017 Litigation / NBA

Milwaukee Bucks Dancer Settlement Agreement Not Quite a Slam Dunk

In September 2015, former Milwaukee Bucks dance team member Lauren Herington filed a class action against the NBA franchise, claiming that it engaged in “prolific wage abuse” of her and other members of the dance and cheerleading squads. The suit was filed in Wisconsin’s federal courts, and claimed that Bucks dancers spent hours in training, wardrobe maintenance, practice and dancing at games, as well as appearing at charity events and posing for a calendar. The dancers would be paid a flat rate of $65 per …

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