NCAA sues DraftKings for trademark infringement over use of March Madness, other terms
The NCAA sued DraftKings on Friday, asking a federal court in Indianapolis for a temporary restraining order to stop the online sportsbook from using trademarks such as March Madness and Final Four to promote sports wagering. The NCAA men’s basketball tournament began this week and there were 16 first-round games on Thursday and Friday. The tournament is typically one of the most heavily bet events on the sports calendar.
The first round of the NCAA women’s tournament started Friday. Betting on sporting events is now legal in at least 39 states, and many professional leagues have partnerships with online sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel. The NCAA has no such deals, and the association has pushed hard to limit the types of bets sportsbooks offer on college events.
Specifically, the NCAA has lobbied state and federal lawmakers to ban prop bets, which allow gamblers to wager on the performance of individual players, on college games. The NCAA’s statement said DraftKings’ “unauthorized use of its trademarks is flatly contrary to one of the association’s most deeply held institutional values: that sports betting must not be associated with, endorsed by, or linked to NCAA championships or the student-athletes who compete in them. ” By using terms such as March Madness, Final Four, Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight in its promotional and marketing campaigns, DraftKings is falsely suggesting the NCAA is endorsing the platform, the NCAA said.
DraftKings did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NCAA says online harassment of college athletes has dramatically increased since the legalization of sports gambling. In a recent study , the NCAA found that almost half of Division I men’s basketball players experience online, verbal or physical abuse by fans for betting losses.
Prop bets have been at the heart of several cases that involved players allegedly manipulating games and shaving points. NCAA investigations have resulted in numerous players being ruled permanently ineligible. A federal indictment handed down in January charged 26 men with participating in a conspiracy to bribe and manipulate college basketball games involving then-active college athletes.