SFC believes that sports leagues are looking for a new way to gouge sports fans. As the popularity and revenue of fantasy sports have grown tremendously, the amount of court cases surrounding the use of statistics (Yahoo v. National Football League)  has followed suit. Leagues have tried to charge for the use of stats. It’s a “lose-lose” for sports fans when sports leagues try to claim public-owned information as their own intellectual property.

Essentially, the leagues failed to keep up with innovators who created new ways to connect fans with their teams. It appears that the sports leagues have their legal teams working day and night to get their foot back into the closed door of this sports fan-based industry.

The leagues feel they own the information. In the information age, this position might not be such a shock, but practically speaking, if Derek Jeter goes 4-for-4 tonight, your fantasy league provider uses that information to tally up the points and supply you with a win over your opponent.  No money should be changing hands over the use of that data. No one owns McNabb’s touchdown percentage, any more than you can own today’s temperature.

We have seen sports leagues (Major League Baseball v. CBC Distribution and Marketing)  and players associations (CBS Interactive v. National Football League Players Association) try to force fantasy providers to pay for the use of this information. Fantasy providers are exposed, and the leagues will continue to try to charge for the use of stats and, perhaps, even online conversation about the facts of the game (ex. SEC’s ill-conceived ban on Social Media usage in stadiums). The next logical step is for the sports leagues to tell those who play online fantasy league sports that they will have to pay before using any statistics.

SAVE THE FANTASY LEAGUES!

Tell Congress that you don’t want professional sports leagues keeping you from your fantasy leagues or charging you a ransom to play.

Sign the Petition here.