MLB players’ union sues DraftKings, FanDuel, others over use of player images

Sports betting and fantasy sports companies DraftKings, FanDuel, Underdog and bet365 wrongfully used Major League Baseball players’ images and likenesses, according to lawsuits filed Monday by the business arm of the players’ union.

MLB Players Inc., which handles most business affairs of the Major League Baseball Players Association, alleged in separate suits filed in New York and Pennsylvania that the companies used player images when offering prop bets about certain players, despite having no licensing agreement to do so.

That’s a contrast to the way those sites handled similar offerings in football, per the suits, which used similar language in their claims.

“Indeed, neither DraftKings Sportsbook nor the bet365 platforms feature player images of any kind for football, despite the fact that the 2024-25 NFL season recently began and the same types and breadth of bets are available on the platforms for football as they are for baseball, and despite the fact that the NFL is the most popular sport to bet on in America,” Players Inc. alleged in the suit against DraftKings and Bet365. “Defendants are instead using MLB player images on their platforms for their own commercial advantage, as a means of associating their platforms more closely with these MLB players, to promote the use of their platforms and entice users to place bets when on the websites or apps.”

These are the second and third lawsuits the MLBPA has brought over name, image and likeness, or NIL, in roughly a month’s time. Players Inc. sued the Pittsburgh Pirates and the gas chain Sheetz in mid-August, and the sides quickly reached a settlement out of court.

The MLBPA also recently lent its support to Japan’s professional baseball union in NIL matters.

Emails to the companies involved were not immediately returned.

(Photo: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)