Fanatics and MLBPA Agree to Non-Exclusive Licensing Deal

The MLB Player’s Association (MLBPA) may soon be getting cut into the US sports betting market.

Baseball’s player union has signed a new licensing deal with Fanatics Sportsbook, the first of its kind. The deal will allow Fanatics to use the name and likeness of the league’s players on its sports betting platform. 

The new deal comes soon after the MLBPA filed lawsuits against several operators for using players’ likenesses. The lawsuits include DraftKings FanDuel, bet365, and Underdog, alleging the four sportsbooks are using images to imply a close relationship with the league and union. 

"Defendants are instead using MLB player images on their platforms for their own commercial advantage, as a means of associating their platforms more closely with these MLB players, to promote the use of their platforms and entice users to place bets," the MLB’s lawsuit states.

While Fanatics was left out of this round of lawsuits, it seems the new operator wasn’t going to risk the possibility of future legal action. The deal also makes them the first to partner with the MLBPA, helping to expand the sportsbook’s presence in the US sports landscape. The operator has struggled to compete across the US, making this deal a significant win.

Will Other Sportsbooks Follow Suit?

The question now is what the rest of the industry will do going forward. Given that the Fanatics deal with the MLBPA is non-exclusive, rival operators could decide to follow suit and avoid the risk of a legal battle. That would forever change the role of player unions in the sports betting industry, cutting them in on the industry’s impressive revenue.

The other possibility is that the rest of the industry will fight back against the MLBPA’s attempt to force licensing fees. While the legal battle would be costly, it would be less than the cost of paying licensing fees to each pro sports league’s union for the foreseeable future.