Ind. Supreme Court Rules Fantasy Sports Sites Can Use College Players' Stats

FanDuel and DraftKings can use the names and statistics of college football players without consent and compensation.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) – If you play college football, you might score the touchdowns, but the numbers don’t belong to only you.

Daily fantasy sports websites FanDuel and DraftKings can use the names and statistics of college football players without consent and compensation. The Indiana Supreme Court made that ruling Wednesday.

In their unanimous ruling, the justices agreed that the starts are numbers which have news value.

Penning the opinion, Justice Steven David reasoned that the use of the stats without consent by FanDuel and DraftKings does not violate Indiana’s right of publicity statute “because the use falls within the meaning of ‘material that has newsworthy value,’ an exception under the statute.”

David explained that the use of the stats by the fantasy websites equated to the publication of the same numbers in newspapers and sports websites across the nation.

The lawsuit was brought by former Indiana University football player Nick Stoner and two ex-players at the University of Northern Illinois. They originally filed it in state court, but the defendants were successful in getting the case moved to federal district court in Indianapolis. The district court found in favor of FanDuel and DraftKing, leading to an appeal.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had asked the Indiana Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the state’s right-of-publicity law gives athletes a right to challenge fantasy sports companies for using their likenesses and statistics.