MLBAM Fantasy Sports Suit Going to US Supreme Court?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit yesterday denied petitions from MLBAM and the MLBPA to re-hear their legal appeal against CDM Fantasy Sports, giving a third decisive victory for the St. Louis-based fantasy games operation. The denial covered petitions to re-hear the case both on a panel basis and before the entire appeals court. The court order contained no information beyond the denial, but in its affirmation last month of CDM's '06 district court win, the court ruled, "The facts in this case barely, if at all, implicate the interests that states typically intend to vindicate by providing rights of publicity to individuals. ... We hold that [CDM's] first amendment rights in offering its fantasy baseball products supersede the players' rights of publicity." The only recourse left for the union and MLBAM is to seek a writ of certiorari to have the case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. “They did exactly what I thought they’d do,” said Rudy Telscher, an attorney for CDM. “This is fantastic news, and we’re now almost at the end of the line on this.” The union and MLBAM have 90 days from the date of yesterday’s order to file their request before the Supreme Court. Union officials said last night they were disappointed and were considering their options going forward.