David Purdum, ESPN Workforce WriterAug 27, 2024, 11:54 AM ETClose Joined ESPN in 2014
Journalist overlaying playing trade since 2008The NFL Gamers Affiliation is suing DraftKings, an legit having a bet spouse of the league, for breach of contract and alleges that the sportsbook large owes roughly $65 million from a licensing settlement.The civil go well with, filed final week in federal courtroom within the Southern District of New York, claims DraftKings intends to terminate a freelance signed in 2021 with the NFLPA that gave the sportsbook rights to make use of the identify, symbol and likeness of gamers for the its lately shuttered NFT market and now not pay the remainder minimal assured bills.NFLPA lawyers didn’t divulge the precise quantity of the go well with however did cite the source of revenue for 5 DraftKings’ executives since 2021 — totaling roughly $261.1 million — and mentioned “the overall repayment of simply those 5 aforementioned officials since 2021 is roughly quadruple of what DraftKings owes the NFLPA Licensors.”DraftKings and the NFLPA didn’t right away reply to requests for remark from ESPN. An NFL spokesperson declined remark to ESPN.”The impetus for DraftKings’ determination to repudiate its license settlement with Plaintiffs is understated: the as soon as white-hot marketplace for NFTs has cooled down,” lawyers for the NFLPA wrote within the criticism. “DraftKings may be going through a civil lawsuit and regulatory inquiries into its product. Patrons’ regret, alternatively, isn’t a foundation to terminate a freelance.”DraftKings introduced in overdue July that it used to be shuttering its NFT market because of “contemporary prison traits” and notified the NFLPA it used to be terminating its licensing settlement July 29, in line with a prison submitting.DraftKings is curious about a separate lawsuit in Massachusetts that alleges the corporate violated securities regulations with its NFT market. DraftKings cited a contemporary determination within the Massachusetts case as the rationale it used to be shutting down its NFT market and terminating its contract with the NFLPA.Within the criticism, lawyers for the NFLPA argued that the Massachusetts ruling didn’t resolve “anything else concerning the deserves of securities regulations” and subsequently did not meet the standards for terminating the contract.”On the finish of the day, and in spite of DraftKings’ absolute best efforts to muddy the waters, this example is awfully easy,” the NFLPA’s criticism states. “DraftKings’ incapacity to profitably commercialize the highbrow belongings it authorized does now not excuse efficiency, and DraftKings will have to pay what’s due.”
