Technical Foul: NCAA Sues DraftKings Over Using March Madness Trademarks

The NCAA has filed a lawsuit against DraftKings for using trademarked terms related to March Madness. The organization says it has purposefully avoided associations with gambling and objects to the potential for the public to believe it has partnered with DraftKings.

The lawsuit, filed in Indiana, says that DraftKings recently began using the terms March Madness®, Final Four®, Elite Eight®, and NCAA Sweet Sixteen®, which are federally recognized trademarks. The NCAA, however, did not grant the company permission to do this.

“The unauthorized use and infringement of the NCAA’s famous trademarks, false suggestion of an association with or sponsorship by the NCAA, and tarnishment of the NCAA’s and its famous trademarks’ reputations by affiliating them with gambling in the minds of consumers, is causing immediate and irreparable harm to the NCAA by eroding control over its brands, undermining the integrity and goodwill of its championships, and falsely linking the NCAA to commercial gambling activity it has expressly rejected,” claims the document.

It adds, “Injunctive relief is necessary to prevent ongoing and escalating damage that cannot be remedied by money damages alone.”

The organization is requesting an emergency temporary restraining order to stop DraftKings from using the terms.

DraftKings: Terms are ‘Protected Speech’

In responding to the lawsuit, DraftKings cited the First Amendment, saying the terms are used in the same way as other tournament names.

“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,” a DraftKings spokesperson said in a statement. “This is protected speech under the First Amendment and is not a violation of any brand’s trademark. We are confident that the courts will deny this request for an injunction.”

The event is huge for betting companies, with $3.1 billion wagered last year. Former DraftKings executive Matthew Bakowicz told CasinoBeats it is the third biggest for the company, and expects bets to exceed $4.5 billion this year.

March Mania? March Mayhem? March Matchups?

In addition to objecting to the use of March Madness, the NCAA also said it opposed DraftKings using “confusingly similar variations,” including “March Mania.” It is unclear what wording the organization would find acceptable.

Other gambling companies have amended the way they frame the tournament on their platforms. BetMGM changed its site from displaying “Men’s March Madness” to “Men’s March Matchups.”

The NCAA also previously asked Kalshi to remove its trademarks, which it has now done. The platform now shows the markets under the College Basketball Tournament -> National Championship heading.

The NCAA would rather the company remove the markets altogether, however. President Charlie Baker wrote to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requesting that it prohibit prediction markets from offering trading on college events.

It was March Madness last year that sparked a flurry of state regulators taking legal action against Kalshi. Nevada was one of the first states to issue the company a cease-and-desist letter and has finally managed to restrict the platform from offering its sports markets in the state.

Schools Also Subject to Strict Licensing Rules

In addition to restricting gambling companies from using its trademarks, the NCAA also appears to be clamping down on schools from sharing footage of the tournament.

The University of Virginia posted on X that it would not be sharing highlights of matches due to NCAA restrictions. Front Office Sports reported that teams have to pay $5,000 for the rights to show in-game footage.

Rather than showing a clip from the game, the school followed up with a stick figure image of player Jacari White spinning a ball.

The rules for in-game footage for the women’s tournament are slightly less strict. Teams can post up to four in-game highlights during each game, though each post can only total 30 seconds. 

NCAA Accused of Facilitating Gambling

In its lawsuit against DraftKings, the NCAA insisted that it is vehemently opposed to gambling. It cites actions it has taken, including declining sportsbook sponsorships, banning sports betting by student-athletes and staff, opposing prop bets and micro-bets, and launching initiatives such as its “Draw the Line” campaign.

At the same time, the organization has been accused of profiting from gambling through a deal with Genius Sports. The NCAA first partnered with Genius Sports, a sports data distributor, as far back as 2018, but extended the deal last year to allow it to provide data to sportsbooks. The company distributes official data to gambling partners, including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and bet365.

Senators John Keenan (MA) and Paul Moriarty (NJ), together with the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), raised concerns that the partnership is “dangerous and short-sighted.”

Last week, the two Senators issued a press release condemning the NCAA. They declared, “What is madness this March is to witness the NCAA prioritize profits over the well-being of its athletes and the public at large.”

The deal with Genius Sports appears not to extend to the use of NCAA trademarks, given the lawsuit filed against one of the company’s clients.

The post Technical Foul: NCAA Sues DraftKings Over Using March Madness Trademarks appeared first on CasinoBeats.

 The NCAA has filed a lawsuit against DraftKings for using trademarked terms related to March Madness. The organization says it has purposefully avoided associations with gambling and objects to the potential for the public to believe it has partnered with DraftKings. The lawsuit, filed in Indiana, says that DraftKings recently began using the terms March
The post Technical Foul: NCAA Sues DraftKings Over Using March Madness Trademarks appeared first on CasinoBeats.