DraftKings has reached a settlement agreement with the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) over accusations that the company failed to pay for using NFL player likenesses in NFTs. This settlement comes just days before the annual NFL Super Bowl, scheduled for February 9th, 2025, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Final Approval Still Pending In a joint letter sent on January 27th to New York federal Judge Analisa Torres, both DraftKings and the NFLPA confirmed that they had mediated the lawsuit and agreed to a settlement in principle, pending the completion of a final settlement agreement. The parties requested a 60-day stay of the case, which would extend the deadline to finalize the settlement until March 28th. Specific details of the settlement were not disclosed. Judge Torres, who handled the SEC lawsuit against Ripple, will need to approve the final agreement. Back And Forth In 2021, DraftKings teamed up with the NFLPA to create collectible NFTs of NFL players, which could be traded in a fantasy sports game called Reignmakers. However, DraftKings shut down its NFT marketplace in July 2023 and stopped paying the NFLPA, allowing the platform to terminate the contract. In response, the NFLPA filed a lawsuit against DraftKings in August, seeking approximately $65 million in damages, based on the figures revealed during the case, although the final amount requested was redacted. The NFLPA also accused DraftKings of threatening to stop offering NFTs in 2023, although the two sides later renegotiated the contract.
