June 02, 2008
The Stats Belong to All
The Supreme Court declined to hear the CDM case. Fantasy operators can continue to use stats without paying a license fee. MLBAM really shot themselves in the foot on this one.
Update: It's not only MLBAM that suffers here, but the players union as well. When the MLBPA issued the licenses, they were fairly sensible about it. Both sides knew that the player's rights to limit the data represented a gray area, so the MLBPA kept the rights fees low enough that no one would challenge them. MLBAM, on the other hand, tried to drive the competition out of business. At that point, it became worth the cost to litigate. Now, neither the owners nor players will see any money from outside fantasy operators.
Owners are greedy? No, it can't be - according to all press reports, only players can be ruthless money grubbing individuals.
very good summary, David. Spot on. And as most of us know this isn't the first time that MLB has botched a good thing by looking a gift horse in the mouth.