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U.S. Court of Appeal Denies Rehearing in Sports Statistics Case
Major League Baseball had contended that it “owned” the statistics upon which fantasy sports leagues rely. Such online leagues rely upon the real-life statistical performances of Major League athletes. Fantasy league participants choose Major League players to form virtual teams and the system tracks the selected athletes’ statistics which are accumulated to determine the performance of the fantasy team.
In October, a three judge federal appeals court found that the statistics were nothing more than facts, and as such not subject to ownership. Major League Baseball sought a rehearing of the issue before a full bench of the federal appeals court. C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc., a company that makes use of these statistics for its fantasy baseball game, succeeded in having the motion denied. No reasons were supplied by the court. There is no word yet whether Major League Baseball will seek to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court.
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