The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has taken legal action by filing a federal complaint in an attempt to secure an emergency restraining order against the online sportsbook DraftKings. The aim of this legal move is to halt the use of registered trademarks linked to the NCAA’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
In the lawsuit, submitted on Friday in the Southern District of Indiana, the NCAA demands that DraftKings stop using terms like “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight,” and “Sweet Sixteen” or any variations of these terms within its betting products, promotions, or marketing efforts.
The NCAA claims that its trademarks are used to identify, brand, advertise, and distinguish the tournaments across various platforms such as broadcast media, digital services, merchandise, sponsorships, and licensed commercial activities. According to the filing, DraftKings deliberately adopted and prominently began using the NCAA’s iconic Basketball Marks, including confusingly similar variations thereof, to trade on and usurp the goodwill, recognition, and consumer trust associated with those marks at the peak of public attention.
Exhibits attached to the complaint included screenshots of DraftKings wagering platforms. The complaint states that DraftKings’s unlawful use quickly spread across its consumer-facing websites and mobile applications, embedding the marks and logos into betting menus, promotional graphics, and marketing publications. This was done to deliberately increase consumer confusion and reinforce a false association or sponsorship by the NCAA in order to continuously capitalize on the NCAA’s goodwill.
DraftKings responded to the allegations by stating that it is not engaging in trademark infringement. The company said: “DraftKings does not use the term March Madness as a trademark, but rather uses it in plain text and as a fair use in the same manner that other tournaments are displayed, such as the NIT, in order to accurately identify the different tournaments and their respective games.” It added that this usage is protected speech under the First Amendment and is not a violation of any brand’s trademark. DraftKings expressed confidence that the courts will deny the request for an injunction.
The NCAA emphasized that it avoids any appearance of affiliation with gambling companies. It has declined sportsbook sponsorships, banned sports betting by athletes and staff, and publicly opposed prop bets and micro-bets. The organization noted that it has launched initiatives to prevent harassment and improper influence in college sports and to preserve the integrity of its competitions.
The NCAA also highlighted the potential impact of DraftKings’s actions, stating that every day that the company continues to use these marks, millions of sports fans — particularly college students and young adults who are vulnerable to gambling harm — are exposed to the false suggestion that the Association has authorized or endorsed DraftKings’ gambling platform.
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