DraftKings, a sports betting platform, has settled a legal disagreement with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) over unpaid royalties for using NFL players' images in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
These NFTs were part of the Reignmakers game, where fans could trade collectible items featuring player likenesses.
The settlement was announced on January 27 in a joint letter to Judge Analisa Torres in New York. Both parties said they had mediated the issue and reached an agreement.
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They requested a 60-day pause in court proceedings until March 28 to finalize the settlement. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. Judge Torres, who is known for handling other high-profile crypto cases, will need to approve the settlement.
DraftKings launched its partnership with the NFLPA in 2021 to create collectible NFTs for fans. However, after a federal court ruled that such collectibles could qualify as securities under US law, DraftKings shut down its NFT marketplace in July 2023.
In response, the NFLPA filed a lawsuit in August 2024, seeking damages for unpaid royalties and claiming that DraftKings had failed to honor their contract.
The NFLPA also alleged that DraftKings had planned to stop offering the NFTs altogether in 2023, but the two sides later worked to restructure their deal.
Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently debated whether to review the legality of Crypto.com
