Legal Issues in Fantasy Sports

In my previous entry, I recounted the story of where I was wrongfully kicked out of a fantasy league for something unrelated to me, but as a punishment to my partner for a prior debt that had nothing to do with fantasy football. It makes me wonder, what is the recourse for fantasy football or any fantasy sports if the commissioner does something immoral, unfair or illegitimate? I suppose small claims court would work, but the fee for filing a claim can be prohibitive depending on the amount of the league’s fees. Obviously, paying 100% of the fee in court costs would not make financial sense. The next issue is venue. With leagues that span across the country, would it be valid to sue a commissioner who lives in Illinois for $230 in a New York small claims court? Even if one had standing to bring a case and won the case, it seems that it would be an impossible judgment to enforce. I’m also not sure to what extent you can enforce small claims court judgments and whether or not they extend out of state.

And what rights does a commissioner have to recoup unpaid league fees? As shown in my previous example, apparently not much, or the big firm litigator would have had another option rather than trying to make ME pay for someone else’s fantasy baseball debt.

With the amount of fantasy leagues around the country and the amount of money that is put into the games, I think we need to establish a Fantasy Arbitration Counsel to settle such potential disputes. After all, companies like ESPN.com, CBSSportsline.com and Yahoo.com make enough money from fantasy sports that perhaps they can help prevent potential crimes from the same.