We love our fantasy sports around here. But even we find it absurd that anything having to do with stat geeks hovering over the computer trying to find Roy Oswalt’s WHIP could make it to the Supreme Court. Yes, the most important judicial body in America found time to make a ruling on whether the major sports leagues—your MLBs, NFLs and (chuckle) NHLs—could stop fantasy sites from using players’ likenesses without paying a licensing fee. They ruled in favor of fantasy leagues because players names and the stats they produce are in the public domain, just like singing Jingle Bells.

It was a setback for baseball players and other professional athletes, who maintained that no one had a right to “exploit players’ identity for commercial gain.” The National Football League, the National Basketball Assn. and the National Hockey League had supported baseball’s players and owners in their appeal to the Supreme Court.

Um, hockey, you need all the good press you can get so you pipe down.

But the fantasy leagues successfully argued that famous ballplayers are well known to the public and that their names and statistics could be used freely — and without paying a fee for the privilege.

Which is fine for the guys making $20 million a year. But what about the guys making $500 grand…? Yeah, they don’t have anything to complain about either. And if you make less than that, it’s not like players are going to pick you up anyway.

Fantasy baseball leagues can use real players’ names, Supreme Court agrees [LA Times]
Image [thesituationist.com]