As Fornelli
put it yesterday, the Supreme Court refusing to hear MLB Advanced Media's case regarding statistics on fantasy sports is a good thing, especially for fantasy players. Note that it is also a good thing for American sport fans who like their sports coverage cheaper and enjoy this basic thing we call "freedom" as well.
It really should not be an issue -- these statistics only exist because we, the American consumers, are willing to pump billions of dollars each year into attending, watching and becoming obsessively immersed in these sports. And judging by some of MLB.com's CEO
Bob Bowman's
responses in an interview with
Darren Rovell, that concept is not lost on the large entities that are attempting to take control of stats back.
Darren: What was your reaction when you found out that the Supreme Court wouldn't hear this?
Bowman: I don't think our reaction was one of great surprise. Since September of '06, when the magistrate first ruled in Missouri, we've been operating as if that was going to be the case. The Court of Appeals upheld it, now the Supreme Court denied, so it won't be heard. Until further action, that is the law of the land. Further action may occur. We weren't surprised and we've been running our business as if it were the case.
It's a brief but excellent interview, and I highly suggest taking the link over to Rovell's page for the full answers. The other main points of contention -- and these are the "good" reasons, if I may play moral policeman for a second -- are the $50 million MLBAM paid to the players' union for the rights to the statistics several years ago and the "likeness" issue.
Major League Baseball has generally been the lead dog when it comes to the major American sports and taking advantage of the Internet and technology. They have MLB.tv, which is like, the greatest thing ever for a baseball fanatic such as myself, and they also came out with an application for the iPhone as soon as it hit the shelves. They also have MLB.com which brings in over 60 million unique visitors a month, and now they're looking to expand on it.
