Betting on Athlete Data: The Legal Landscape of Professional Sports, Athletes’ Rights and Gaming Companies

Abstract

The United States Supreme Court ruling that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional in May 2018 has changed the professional sport landscape. Currently, states are working to create and pass sports betting laws and capitalize on the financial opportunities, while professional leagues are looking to do the same. One way the leagues can further benefit financially from sports betting is selling athletes’ biometric data (ABD) to data providers, such as Sportradar and Genius Sports. However, the dearth of legal precedent on protections of ABD and the lack of delineation of ownership of ABD within collective bargaining agreements poses obstacles for leagues to overcome before offering ABD in sports betting platforms. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss (1) the current state of sports betting in the United States, (2) the legal precedent around ABD, (3) the challenges that stem from legal precedent or laws, and (4) a solution for how leagues can sell ABD to data providers while being compliant with applicable laws.

Keywords:

• Athlete biometric data
• sports betting
• gaming companies
• right of privacy
• right of publicity

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah M. Brown

Sarah M. Brown (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Southern Methodist University. She earned a law degree from Marquette University Law school and her PhD from Texas A&M University. Her research interests include understanding the effects of digital technologies for revenue generation and brand creation, protection and management, as well as the underlying legal implications.

Kate M. Brown

Katie M. Brown (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) is an Assistant Professor in Sport Management at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Dr. Brown earned her PhD from Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on brand management, trademarks, and the interfaces of sport marketing, sport law and sport economics.