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The case comes as the unregulated fantasy sports industry, in
which people pay to compete for daily cash prizes in simulated
sports contests, faces legal scrutiny following reports that a
DraftKings Inc employee won $350,000 in a FanDuel contest using
what appeared to be insider information.
Garçon's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt,
Maryland, stated that FanDuel exploits the popularity of
National Football League players to drive its business and
features their names in its advertisements without paying them
anything.
"This case is about FanDuel trying to profit on Plaintiff
Garçon's success, and that of other NFL athletes, without
compensating them," the suit stated.
FanDuel rejected the lawsuit's claims, saying in a statement it
is "without merit."
"There is established law that fantasy operators may use player
names and statistics for fantasy contests. FanDuel looks forward
to continuing to operate our contests which sports fans
everywhere have come to love," the FanDuel statement said.
Garçon's lawsuit said the proposed class would be made up of any
NFL player whose likeness or name was used by FanDuel starting
from January 2013. Garçon said he has suffered damages of at
least $75,000 and the class more than $5 million.
DraftKings, which was not named as a defendant in the suit, has
a licensing and marketing agreement with the NFL Player's
Association while FanDuel does not, USA Today reported. The
newspaper said Garcon promoted FanDuel on his Twitter account
last year.
FanDuel and DraftKings, two privately owned industry leaders,
are both valued at more than $1 billion.
The Justice Department and the FBI are investigating the
industry, according to media reports. New York's attorney
general has also opened a probe.
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association said on Tuesday it had
created a control board to oversee the fast-growing,
multibillion dollar industry and avoid outside regulation.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Will
Dunham)
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