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The US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled Thursday against the NCAA’s request for a temporary restraining order restricting DraftKings’ use of March Madness and other NCAA trademarks.
Why the NCAA’s emergency request fell short
While such a request requires the moving party to prove four necessary factors, the court found the NCAA only proved three. Specifically, the NCAA failed to “show a likelihood of irreparable harm,” given the length of time it took the association to file the lawsuit; the court noted DraftKings has been using the trademarks for years.
The ruling allows DraftKings to continue using NCAA terms and trademarks while the lawsuit proceeds. This usage will likely continue through the end of the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments, as the men’s final is scheduled for Monday. However, the court noted that a final ruling could come earlier.
“With further discovery the NCAA may be able to show they are entitled to a preliminary or permanent injunction, and those claims remain pending,” the ruling stated.
DraftKings calls out NCAA ‘hypocrisy’
In a rare departure from standard legal tone, DraftKings’ counsel took a sarcastic shot at the NCAA in its opposition to the restraining order. Just three paragraphs into the filing, counsel likened the NCAA’s move to a famous scene from the film “Casablanca.”
“The timing of this lawsuit underscores its lack of legitimacy. In the middle of March Madness, the NCAA rushed to court last Friday night, professing itself ‘shocked—shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!’” the opposition reads, according to news by Legal Sports Report.
“Like Captain Renault in Casablanca, the NCAA feigns surprise at conduct it has long known about and tacitly accepted. And, like Captain Renault, the NCAA profits from the very betting activity it now claims is intolerable.”
The opposition further states that the NCAA’s claim of irreparable harm is “affirmatively contradicted by its own business conduct.” In addition to highlighting the yearslong delay in bringing the suit, DraftKings pointed to the NCAA’s commercial deal with Genius Sports to use its data for sports betting.
“That unexplained delay alone defeats any claim to emergency relief,” the opposition reads. “A party that knowingly permits the challenged conduct for years cannot credibly assert that immediate judicial intervention is necessary to prevent irreparable harm.”
Despite the overall victory for the sportsbook, the court rejected DraftKings’ excuse that avoiding the trademarks would be confusing for consumers. “DraftKings argues that the NCAA’s proposed alternatives—‘NCAA Tournament’ or ‘Division I’ ‘college basketball’ tournament—are not only cumbersome but ambiguous… The Court disagrees.”
NCAA seeks similar limitations for other operators
The NCAA initially targeted only DraftKings, a move the sportsbook’s legal team characterized as puzzling given that many other operators use the same trademarks.
DraftKings supported this claim with a filing from Daniel Murphy, a manager at StoneTurn Group, which provides expert services to law firms. The filing included examples of other operators using the trademarks across apps, websites, and social media pages.
In response, the NCAA noted it has since asked other operators to stop using the trademarks. During the hearing, NCAA counsel reported that some of the cited examples were cached images no longer in use or posts made by private individuals.
