The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has filed a lawsuit against DraftKings over the operator’s alleged use of trademarked phrases across its sports betting offering.
The governing body has sought a temporary restraining order against the use of the terms ‘March Madness’, ‘Final Four’, ‘Elite Eight’ and ‘Sweet Sixteen’ in all DraftKings promotional campaigns and marketing activities.
This year’s edition of the men’s March Madness commenced on 17 March, with the college basketball tournament currently in the Sweet Sixteen phase.
The women’s version of the tournament got underway on 18 March, with the next set of second round fixtures taking place this week.
Earlier this month, the American Gaming Association (AGA) forecast that $3.3bn would be legally wagered on this year’s tournaments, with the figure representing a 54% increase across the last three years.
According to the NCAA, DraftKings’ use of the terms is “flatly contrary to one of the Association’s most deeply held institutional values: that sports betting must not be associated with, endorsed by, or linked to NCAA championships or the student-athletes who compete in them”.
The organisation said that by including these phrases in its offering, DraftKings is exposing young people potential gambling-related harm, and insinuating the NCAA endorses sports betting in any capacity.
An NCAA statement read: “The NCAA makes clear in the complaint and its motion that every day DraftKings continues to use these marks, millions of sports fans – and, critically, college students and young adults who are particularly susceptible to gambling harm – are exposed to the false suggestion that the Association has authorised or endorsed DraftKings’ gambling platform.
“This causes confusion among NCAA members and student-athletes that the Association is involved with and/or endorsing sports betting, which is in direct contradiction to its robust education, integrity monitoring, anti-harassment and advocacy efforts to end risky prop bets.
“The NCAA does not have any commercial relationships with any sportsbooks of any kind and continues to uphold a strict prohibition on advertising and sponsorships associated with betting.
“Filing this complaint is a crucial step in furthering its mission to protect the integrity of competition and student-athlete wellbeing from the harms of sports betting.”
In response, DraftKings claimed a fair use exemption of the trademarked phrases.
16 of the 31 automatic bids have been clinched
March Madness is just around the corner. pic.twitter.com/OI0bf30Lt5
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) March 14, 2026
The Boston-headquartered firm remains “confident” the injunction request will be denied.
A DraftKings spokesperson said: “DraftKings does not use the term March Madness as a trademark, but rather uses it in plain text and as a fair use in the same manner that other tournaments are displayed, such as the NIT, in order to accurately identify the different tournaments and their respective games.
“This is protected speech under the First Amendment and is not a violation of any brand’s trademark. We are confident the courts will deny this request for an injunction.”
In November, the NCAA voted to rescind the lifting of a ban preventing student-athletes from placing bets on professional sports.
The post NCAA files lawsuit against DraftKings over alleged March Madness trademark infringement first appeared on EGR Intel.
Governing body seeks temporary restraining order against the operator for its use of March Madness, Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen tags across sports betting products
The post NCAA files lawsuit against DraftKings over alleged March Madness trademark infringement first appeared on EGR Intel.