This one from our friend Nate Ravitz of RotoTimes:
http://www.rototimes.com/index.php?spor ... 0210092848
Another Licensing Article
-
Tom Kessenich
- Posts: 26188
- Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
- Contact:
Another Licensing Article
Tom Kessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
Manager of High Stakes Fantasy Games, SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @TomKessenich
Another Licensing Article
A letter to MLB.com
You greedy pigs! How could you take away my fantasy baseball options! This is a bunch of crap. You think your helping fantasy baseball? That is bunk, I’m a very big fan of baseball and I have not been so mad since the baseball strike of 94. At least I know what the strike was about, but taking control of who can have fantasy baseball or not is just Greed. I’m sorry but I have lost all respect for MLB.com. What your doing is like having a city cut down it’s number of liquor license, instead of having 100 your trying to cut it to 10 and this city is growing at an alarming rate, it just don’t make cents. Your spitting on the faces of the people who made this game of fantasy baseball what it is today, and the people who make it grow. More is better MLB.com not less, just let the game grow like it was and get your ugly greedy face out of the way.
You greedy pigs! How could you take away my fantasy baseball options! This is a bunch of crap. You think your helping fantasy baseball? That is bunk, I’m a very big fan of baseball and I have not been so mad since the baseball strike of 94. At least I know what the strike was about, but taking control of who can have fantasy baseball or not is just Greed. I’m sorry but I have lost all respect for MLB.com. What your doing is like having a city cut down it’s number of liquor license, instead of having 100 your trying to cut it to 10 and this city is growing at an alarming rate, it just don’t make cents. Your spitting on the faces of the people who made this game of fantasy baseball what it is today, and the people who make it grow. More is better MLB.com not less, just let the game grow like it was and get your ugly greedy face out of the way.
-
PittIsIt95
- Posts: 81
- Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:00 pm
Another Licensing Article
My letter I sent to MLBAM this morning:
MLB sucks. Overpaid players, dumb ownership and an idiot running the union. MLB did its part already in ruining the competitive environment on the field, now they are trying to ruin the only thing that draws people to the game (besides the fans of teams that actually have a chance by spending 120 million a year on payroll) - Fantasy baseball.
The only reason you have half the fans is because of fantasy baseball. Now you are finding a way to ruin that. Get a reality check. You are trying to make money off this aspect of gaming but fail to realize you will hurt the overall revenue at the gates and merchandising by abandoning the fantasy gamers. It is the only thing keeping 70% of the fans interested.
Keep F'in with the game and you will be down to 6 cities because the others are losing interest fast and screwin with the fantasy world just speeds that process up.
Sincerely,
A former Pirate fan until MLB became the joke that it is with ridiculous payrolls.
[ February 10, 2005, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: PittIsIt95 ]
MLB sucks. Overpaid players, dumb ownership and an idiot running the union. MLB did its part already in ruining the competitive environment on the field, now they are trying to ruin the only thing that draws people to the game (besides the fans of teams that actually have a chance by spending 120 million a year on payroll) - Fantasy baseball.
The only reason you have half the fans is because of fantasy baseball. Now you are finding a way to ruin that. Get a reality check. You are trying to make money off this aspect of gaming but fail to realize you will hurt the overall revenue at the gates and merchandising by abandoning the fantasy gamers. It is the only thing keeping 70% of the fans interested.
Keep F'in with the game and you will be down to 6 cities because the others are losing interest fast and screwin with the fantasy world just speeds that process up.
Sincerely,
A former Pirate fan until MLB became the joke that it is with ridiculous payrolls.
[ February 10, 2005, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: PittIsIt95 ]
-
Cooperstown
- Posts: 376
- Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:00 pm
- Contact:
Another Licensing Article
Letters to MLB should certainly do the job. But I just fired off a letter to the Astros (I live in Houston) and basically mentioned the same things and added how a drastic downturn in my spending money on tickets and memorabilia will be the result if this continues.
I think the owners of the teams can provide some influence if they see potential for lost revenue.
I think the owners of the teams can provide some influence if they see potential for lost revenue.
Another Licensing Article
Could the email address (or postal address) of MLB.com please be posted? I'd like to rip on them too and encourage my buds in the local fantasy league to write to them also.
-
Team Herron
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:00 pm
- Contact:
-
Greg Ambrosius
- Posts: 41084
- Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 6:00 pm
- Contact:
Another Licensing Article
This is the article that I wrote for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association newsletter yesterday:
CDM FANTASY SPORTS FILES SUIT AGAINST MLB
By Greg Ambrosius
In the three weeks since Major League Baseball Advanced Media announced that it had obtained fantasy baseball licensing rights from the Major League Baseball Players Association for $50 million over five years, company executives have held several face-to-face meetings in New York with past licensees. But as of today, with pitchers and catchers expected to report in less than two weeks, not a single fantasy baseball company had received a license from MLBAM to operate its games and services in 2005.
Some companies are still negotiating with MLBAM and have delayed the launch of their online promotions until a deal is done, a request made by MLBAM. Top sites such as CBS Sportsline.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com, AOL.com and FoxSports.com haven’t launched their baseball products yet, even though in years past all of those sites were live well before the Super Bowl. Other companies have been told since their meetings in New York that they have been denied a license to produce their own games, although they have been offered a revenue share plan to promote MLB.com’s games.
One former licensee that was denied a license for 2005 after meeting with MLBAM in New York was CDM Fantasy Sports, which has run salary cap games since 1992 and provided fantasy baseball and other sports games for USAToday.com since the mid 1990s. CDM has since filed suit in a federal court in St. Louis challenging MLB’s authority to license fantasy companies and is continuing to run its baseball games and services.
CDM is contending that the players don’t own the statistics. CDM lawyer Rudy Telscher said he understands that companies need MLB licenses for trademarked material. “And we’re fine with not being able to use logos and bells and whistles where they have rights,” Telscher told USA Today’s Michael Hiestand in today’s column. “The question, which hasn’t been decided by any court, is whether the mere use of bare statistics associated with players is a violation.”
Telscher told Hiestand that those statistics are in the public domain. It’s possible that a court of law will eventually decide whether they are or not.
Bob Bowman, chief executive of MLB Advanced Media, told Hiestand that there could be four or five major fantasy sites in 2005 including mlb.com, compared to approximately a dozen total licensed companies in 2004. But an MLBAM official stated today that several smaller companies will be licensed for 2005 under a special tier designed to protect those companies who have built up small, but loyal fan bases. An offering of a $10,000 minimum for companies with less than 5,000 participants was e-mailed to dozens of FSTA companies last week and an MLBAM official said a new e-mail will go out today to those same companies with an offer for less than $10,000. However, this structure does make it difficult for middle-tier companies to get a license as the price jumps to $500,000 for any company with more than 5,000 free or paid customers.
“We are not trying to eliminate the mom and pop companies who helped build this industry,” said the MLBAM representative. “We have no intention of eliminating those companies. In fact, we want to make it easier for them to work with us and be licensed. Our goal is to grow this industry, not put people out of business.”
But the clock is ticking on 2005 and the big sites likely won’t be live until at least Tuesday, Feb. 15, the date MLBAM has requested those sites to go live if they are granted licenses for 2005. MLBAM would like to kick off the season with a National Fantasy Baseball Day, but unfortunately Feb. 15 is well into the fantasy baseball season. “I’m not sure MLBAM realizes how important the early months are for advertising your baseball products,” said one FSTA member.
Eventually, though, the lawsuit over the licensable rights of the Players Associations pertaining to statistics could have the biggest impact this industry has ever seen. A decision either way if it plays out would affect everyone involved in this industry, good or bad.
CDM FANTASY SPORTS FILES SUIT AGAINST MLB
By Greg Ambrosius
In the three weeks since Major League Baseball Advanced Media announced that it had obtained fantasy baseball licensing rights from the Major League Baseball Players Association for $50 million over five years, company executives have held several face-to-face meetings in New York with past licensees. But as of today, with pitchers and catchers expected to report in less than two weeks, not a single fantasy baseball company had received a license from MLBAM to operate its games and services in 2005.
Some companies are still negotiating with MLBAM and have delayed the launch of their online promotions until a deal is done, a request made by MLBAM. Top sites such as CBS Sportsline.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com, AOL.com and FoxSports.com haven’t launched their baseball products yet, even though in years past all of those sites were live well before the Super Bowl. Other companies have been told since their meetings in New York that they have been denied a license to produce their own games, although they have been offered a revenue share plan to promote MLB.com’s games.
One former licensee that was denied a license for 2005 after meeting with MLBAM in New York was CDM Fantasy Sports, which has run salary cap games since 1992 and provided fantasy baseball and other sports games for USAToday.com since the mid 1990s. CDM has since filed suit in a federal court in St. Louis challenging MLB’s authority to license fantasy companies and is continuing to run its baseball games and services.
CDM is contending that the players don’t own the statistics. CDM lawyer Rudy Telscher said he understands that companies need MLB licenses for trademarked material. “And we’re fine with not being able to use logos and bells and whistles where they have rights,” Telscher told USA Today’s Michael Hiestand in today’s column. “The question, which hasn’t been decided by any court, is whether the mere use of bare statistics associated with players is a violation.”
Telscher told Hiestand that those statistics are in the public domain. It’s possible that a court of law will eventually decide whether they are or not.
Bob Bowman, chief executive of MLB Advanced Media, told Hiestand that there could be four or five major fantasy sites in 2005 including mlb.com, compared to approximately a dozen total licensed companies in 2004. But an MLBAM official stated today that several smaller companies will be licensed for 2005 under a special tier designed to protect those companies who have built up small, but loyal fan bases. An offering of a $10,000 minimum for companies with less than 5,000 participants was e-mailed to dozens of FSTA companies last week and an MLBAM official said a new e-mail will go out today to those same companies with an offer for less than $10,000. However, this structure does make it difficult for middle-tier companies to get a license as the price jumps to $500,000 for any company with more than 5,000 free or paid customers.
“We are not trying to eliminate the mom and pop companies who helped build this industry,” said the MLBAM representative. “We have no intention of eliminating those companies. In fact, we want to make it easier for them to work with us and be licensed. Our goal is to grow this industry, not put people out of business.”
But the clock is ticking on 2005 and the big sites likely won’t be live until at least Tuesday, Feb. 15, the date MLBAM has requested those sites to go live if they are granted licenses for 2005. MLBAM would like to kick off the season with a National Fantasy Baseball Day, but unfortunately Feb. 15 is well into the fantasy baseball season. “I’m not sure MLBAM realizes how important the early months are for advertising your baseball products,” said one FSTA member.
Eventually, though, the lawsuit over the licensable rights of the Players Associations pertaining to statistics could have the biggest impact this industry has ever seen. A decision either way if it plays out would affect everyone involved in this industry, good or bad.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius
Another Licensing Article
Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:
This one from our friend Nate Ravitz of RotoTimes:
http://www.rototimes.com/index.php?spor ... 0210092848 Perfectly written article. Too bad MLB won't listen to its fans.
Bottom line, MLBAM expects to recoup its $10 million per year investment, plus profits, from fantasy players pockets via licensing deals. Whether a direct cost to us, or indirect, all of us know that we're the ones who will be paying it. Does Bob Bowman really believe we're too stupid to figure that out?
This one from our friend Nate Ravitz of RotoTimes:
http://www.rototimes.com/index.php?spor ... 0210092848 Perfectly written article. Too bad MLB won't listen to its fans.
Bottom line, MLBAM expects to recoup its $10 million per year investment, plus profits, from fantasy players pockets via licensing deals. Whether a direct cost to us, or indirect, all of us know that we're the ones who will be paying it. Does Bob Bowman really believe we're too stupid to figure that out?
-
sportsbettingman
- Posts: 3038
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:00 pm
- Contact:
Another Licensing Article
I have no idea what I'm talking about here...but...
Couldn't a private party take down the stats of each game personaly...his word is final...(doesn't have to match MLB "official" rulings on errors and such)...and give that info to fantasy league using STL.1B...or PIT.3B etc?
The MLB nor it's players union created this fantasy game...nor created the software to track it...nor marketed it and took the financial risks to allow it to blossum "grass roots style".
They make their money the same way they used to...and this is more of a "free marketing" tool that they don't have to spend a penny on...yet it generates so much interest in watching games on TV or reading newspapers...or reading stats online...and thus being exposed to commercials and advertising all the while.
I'm in over my head here...but my gut says the courts may grant CDM the rights and screw MLB's attempt at chaining up a cash cow.
~Lance
[ February 10, 2005, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: sportsbettingman ]
Couldn't a private party take down the stats of each game personaly...his word is final...(doesn't have to match MLB "official" rulings on errors and such)...and give that info to fantasy league using STL.1B...or PIT.3B etc?
The MLB nor it's players union created this fantasy game...nor created the software to track it...nor marketed it and took the financial risks to allow it to blossum "grass roots style".
They make their money the same way they used to...and this is more of a "free marketing" tool that they don't have to spend a penny on...yet it generates so much interest in watching games on TV or reading newspapers...or reading stats online...and thus being exposed to commercials and advertising all the while.
I'm in over my head here...but my gut says the courts may grant CDM the rights and screw MLB's attempt at chaining up a cash cow.
~Lance
[ February 10, 2005, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: sportsbettingman ]
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
~Albert Einstein
~Albert Einstein
Another Licensing Article
The thing that irks me most about this whole situation is how mlb.com is trying to convince everyone it's about everything but money and everyone with an IQ over 40 knows it's about nothing but money. National Fantasy Baseball day, two tiered licensing fees, wanting sites to move toward wireless and multimedia type games, is all an attempt to establish control of the industry and to set prescedent for future court cases that are sure to come as they annualy drop more licensees, increase fees, and gradually condition fantasy baseball players to move to alternative sites all the while funneling them inevitably toward mlb.com. I have played fantasy sports since 94 but I will give it up completely before I allow myself to be herded into the mlb.com pen. 
[ February 10, 2005, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Ken ]
[ February 10, 2005, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Ken ]
-
sportsbettingman
- Posts: 3038
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2005 6:00 pm
- Contact:
Another Licensing Article
Just some random thoughts...
How is it much different from newspapers that use the MBL stats and articles to sell papers?
Won't the NFL, NHL and NBA follow suit if this goes through?
If we just flopped over to Minor League Fantasy Baseball Championships...it would boost that league to another level...and drop the MLB and their ego down a notch or two.
If I decided to start keeping stats and playing fantasy billiards or darts or poker...would I have to eventually pay their "associations" once my free press was not needed anymore?
Screw them.
~Lance
How is it much different from newspapers that use the MBL stats and articles to sell papers?
Won't the NFL, NHL and NBA follow suit if this goes through?
If we just flopped over to Minor League Fantasy Baseball Championships...it would boost that league to another level...and drop the MLB and their ego down a notch or two.
If I decided to start keeping stats and playing fantasy billiards or darts or poker...would I have to eventually pay their "associations" once my free press was not needed anymore?
Screw them.
~Lance
"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."
~Albert Einstein
~Albert Einstein
Another Licensing Article
This whole thing could backfire on MLB and the player association. If CDM wins no one should have to pay any fee to MLB or the MLBPA ever again of any kind as long as pictures and logos aren't used. The bad thing is it will probably take two years and go to the supreme court before a final decision is rendered.
Another Licensing Article
According to that last article they think fantasy football is more popular because it's easier and takes less time so dumbing down fantasy baseball will make it more popular. Those dumba$$es can't figure out the reason fantasy football is more popular is because the game of football is more popular and has more fans. MLB ruined baseball with no salary cap, no drug testing, watered down expansion and the players strike and drove all the fans to football. Now those same geniuses are going to "fix" fantasy baseball which they clearly do not understand nor do they understand the make up of fantasy baseball gamers.