MLB Players Union Urges Judge to Deny DraftKings NIL Appeal Bid

The Major League Baseball (MLB) players union is urging a federal judge to reject DraftKings request to appear her denial of their bid to dismiss the union's publicity rights suit.

The union sued DraftKings and its main rival FanDuel in September, arguing they "flagrantly" violated the rights of nearly all active players by using their names, images and likenesses on their betting platforms without a license

MLB Players Inc. derided DraftKings’ effort as “hoping that if it throws enough against a wall, something will stick” in a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

Judge Karen S. Marston declined to dismiss MLBPI’s claims on March 14, saying that while some uses appeared to resemble news reporting, she couldn’t categorically rule all were, noting some posts were interwoven into advertising.

Pennsylvania right of publicity law’s “associated with a news report or news presentation” exemption doesn’t apply to the gambling service, MPBPI aruged. Martson’s opinion declined to read a “newsworthiness” exemption into that language, and questioned whether unique odds set by the site appearing alongside player images constitute “news.”

MLBPI, which sued in September, dismissed Bet365 last month. It also sued Underdog Sports Inc. and FanDuel in New York federal court before dismissing FanDuel in November.

The case is MLB Players Inc. v. DraftKings Inc., E.D. Pa., No. 2:24-cv-04884, 4/17/25.