Comments on: MLB’s assault on fantasy leagues

By: Sean Aqui

Sean Aqui — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 23:28:54 +0000

Dos: Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve fixed the link. There’s no citation on the Minnesota case, though.

By: Chesty

Chesty — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 18:09:07 +0000

This kind of reminds me of Metallica and the Napster suit. They lost a lot of fans for thier position. Baseball can’t really afford to lose fans again. I’ve never been a fantasy-ball guy, but it seems to be that this kind of ham-handed approach is going to hurt the game more than it helps.

By: DosPeros

DosPeros — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 17:20:19 +0000

The answer to why is fairly simple: Mr. Thomas’ industry makes 1.5 BILLION dollars a years. MLB would like a slice, perhaps a significant slice of that industry in royalties or licensing agreements. But I think the Fantasy World wins on public domain, fair use — and the fact that a “fact” is not copyrightable; a batting average and all other baseball statistics are facts. So unless each viewer signs a confidentiality agreement prior to watching a game….I don’t know.

Sean, the link to the Legal Affairs article was broken. I’d be interested in the citation to the Minnesota case that referrence.

By: JT

JT — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 15:37:22 +0000

Well written article Sean. If you need further information, please keep in touch with us at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. We post articles on our web site http://www.FSTA.org and other updates. Members join for only $250 and get access to 4 years of market research and several networking opportunities.

It’s a great industry, with lots of great people, and a long list of companies that have built this industry through years and years of sweat equity, financial investment, personal risk, and long hours. This case is obviously a sad example of what’s wrong in the business world. MLBAM is driven by greed, even though they will tell you they are trying to grow the industry. I’m not sure how they can sleep at night after those words come out of their collective mouths.

Anyone that would like to keep in touch, you can get us an email by going to the site and clicking on the Contact Us link.

Thanks, Jeff Thomas
President, Fantasy Sports Trade Association

By: Alan Stewart Carl

Alan Stewart Carl — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:06:29 +0000

MLB is a poorly run organization. This move doesn’t surprise me. The NFL, however, would never follow MLB’s example, I don’t believe. Fantasy Football has been a boon to the NFL, bringing in more and more hardcore fans who watch not just their home team but almost ALL the teams play. I don’t think the NFL would want to do anything the disrupt this.

By: ford4x4

ford4x4 — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:58:23 +0000

I love how sports try to find new ways to p*ss off their fans, and then complain that they are losing fan base.