Appeals court sides with fantasy baseball company

ESPN

CDM went to the mat after MLBAM jacked up licensing prices (after buying out the Players Association’s rights) for fantasy content. This federal appeals court unanimously agreed that the players’ names and associated stats are news information and can be used by fantasy gamers without a license. It seems like an obvious conclusion, but you never know.

The ruling should free innovators and entrepeneurs to get back into the game, though how stifling the consolidation of the last few years was remains to be seen. This is good news for everyone, including MLBAM (though they don’t know it yet).