MLB.com Exec Speaks About Supreme Court 'Fantasy Baseball Ruling'

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.

Regarding that large chunk of change that MLBAM dished out, hopefully they have a clause that will get some of it back. Obviously it was a calculated gamble on their part, because if they win the rights to the stats, the 50 extra large is chump change compared to what they would pull back in fantasy licensing revenues.

On the likeness issue -- think video games here, whereby it is illegal to use the name and image of players without a license -- I tend to agree with Advanced Media. Forcing an individual or a set of individuals to give up their likenesses simply based on public domain (stemming from their ability to become famous) is against most of the economic principles our country is based on.

So Bowman has a good point in that the court rulings "bolster" the likeness argument, and I am fine with that. And most Americans should be too. Only when would-be monopolies start trying to control publicly compiled statistics -- that are, again, generated because we are willing to spend our hard earned money on sports -- should we really begin to worry.