In other words, the NCAA is angry at CBS for making money off student athletes and not giving them a cut!!
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker Halo Realty, LLC 700 E. Main St. Hendersonville TN 37075 [EMAIL PROTECTED] office: 615-822-3509 fax: 615-822-7741 mobile: 615-972-4239 * NCAA trying to block fantasy leagues' move into college football By ANDREW ABRAMSON <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Palm Beach Post Staff Writer The multimillion-dollar business of fantasy football is about to get bigger, younger and more controversial. This season, a fantasy league will track college players. While it's bound to make college football more popular by giving fans a reason to watch games they normally would ignore, the NCAA doesn't like the added pressure it places on young student-athletes. Fantasy football is a wildly popular pastime in which fans draft their favorite players to create teams, then score points based on how those players perform. Until now, commercial leagues have been limited to the NFL. A recent court ruling in Missouri prompted CBS Sports to launch the first fantasy college football league that includes names of players. It's a potential money maker for the network and could lead to increased television ratings for the sport. But the NCAA is fighting CBS, arguing that the organization's rules bar the use of players' likenesses for commercial use. "We still believe that we have the responsibility to protect and act on behalf of student-athletes," NCAA spokesman Bob Williams said. "There are marked differences between professional leagues and college athletics." A Miami Dolphins fan can purchase a Chad Pennington jersey at any sports outlet, imitate Ronnie Brown's moves in a video game or draft Ricky Williams for his fantasy team. Until now, however, college athletes have been protected. Jerseys, video games and fantasy games can use college athletes' numbers but not their names. CBS says it has the right to use players' names based on a federal court ruling against Major League Baseball. The league had claimed exclusive rights to its own players' likenesses, but it came down to a First Amendment debate, with the 8th District Court of Appeal finding that statistics are part of the public domain. Elizabeth Rowe, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in copyright infringement and trademark law, believes that courts treat sports figures differently than other public figures, including film and music stars whose likenesses are almost always protected. When it comes to sports, the courts "tend to lean more toward letting the public have it, letting the public get it for free," Rowe said. NFL players have long complained about added scrutiny from fantasy games, knowing that millions of fans dwell on each team member's statistics. But while it might be difficult to muster sympathy for big-league players making big salaries, it's a different case with student-athletes. "Now if you make some great plays, some of those fans are going to think you're the greatest thing in the world," University of Miami safety Ryan Hill said. "Make a bad play and now you're a bad guy. That's the thing that worries me most about that kind of stuff." Not that fans have always been kind to college players after a mistake on the field. But in fantasy sports, a player can be chastised simply for not contributing enough on offense. The focus on individual performance goes against college sports' basic principle of players sacrificing for the good of the team. Jason Kint, senior vice president of CBSSports.com <http://CBSSports.com> , said his company considered that when it created the fantasy college game. Officials tweaked some of the wording, replacing "free agents" with "walk-ons" and "trades" with "transfers." "We're trying to keep in mind what is so special about college sports and make sure we speak to that," Kint said. Kint believes that college football can replace baseball as the second most popular fantasy sport behind the NFL. He also plans to introduce fantasy college basketball this year. "College football in itself has so much passion around it, and the potential to be even bigger (than baseball)," Kint said. He also says the NCAA's expected challenge of the fantasy league is short-sighted. "Pro sports didn't know what to make of fantasy 10 to 15 years ago, and now they're all major players that own and operate their own games," Kint said. "They know that people playing fantasy sports are the ones buying the DirecTV package, buying more jerseys, buying more publications and consuming whatever they can around the sport." University of Florida coach Urban Meyer isn't surprised that companies are trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of college football, even if there's a chance they could wind up in court. "This is America, they're trying to sell something," Meyer said. "Sell it, good luck to you. Go and buy a ticket and watch the game." Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, who last year became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy and is being drafted first overall in many fantasy leagues, doesn't expect it to affect his game. "I'm not going to sit here and worry about it," Tebow said. "I don't think it's a big deal." The NCAA, however, does think it's a big deal. Williams contends that the federal ruling is specific to Major League Baseball and shouldn't apply to college football. Rowe, the law professor, thinks that a different court could rule in favor of the NCAA. "It would be a great case for the Supreme Court," Rowe said. "One could make a good argument," he said, that fantasy sports don't serve the same information purpose protected by the First Amendment but "rather is being used for commercial benefit to the detriment of the players who aren't able to reap any monetary benefit." Such a ruling could shake up the entire fantasy sports landscape. CBS Sports, Yahoo, ESPN and other companies that run fantasy games would have to get permission from pro and college leagues to keep doing so. But for now, it's fans like Bryan Nussenblatt of Boca Raton who are reaping the benefits of the newest game on the block. Nussenblatt has drafted two college football fantasy teams and plans on flipping from game to game every Saturday to see how his players stack up. "You get the true experience now," Nussenblatt said. "This is going to be huge." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
