NFL player Pierre Garcon filed a lawsuit against FanDuel on Friday in the state of Maryland, accusing the daily fantasy sports site of misappropriation of his name and likeness as well as other NFL players. The wide receiver of the Washington Redskins is accusing the site of profiting from his likeness as well as other players in the NFL without proper compensation to said player.
Garcon has invited other NFL players to join the class action suit, claiming the site is improperly exploiting the popularity of NFL players for their gain. In the suit, Garcon does not mention DraftKings, the other top daily fantasy sports site which could be due to the fact that DraftKings has a marketing partnership with the NFL Players Association which was signed back in September which permits the usage of player images of the NFL.
As pointed out in a Calvin Ayre report, it is interesting to note that Garcon was promoting FanDuel actively in 2014 via his Twitter account and even offered tickets to Redskins games for those who signed up at the site. The Redskins even signed a deal with FanDuel one year ago for a team partnership agreement.
Garcon is also claiming that FanDuel has shown an increase in revenue earnings that have lead to large profits based on the use of his likeness and name which were not authorized by him. However, the player acquisition costs are quite high which would negate any increase in revenues based on player likeness usage.
This case is just one more area in which FanDuel must battle for their operations. It was just recently ruled in the state of Nevada that daily fantasy sports is considered gambling and licensing must be obtained to operate legally within the state. The FBI as well as other states are investigating the sites and activity, trying to determine if the industry needs to be regulated.