Pierre Garcon files class action lawsuit on behalf of players against FanDuel

Pierre Garcon has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all NFL players against FanDuel

The war against FanDuel and daily fantasy sports has been gaining steam in recent weeks with government probes of the business, battles with the NCAA, and so on and so forth. However, the plot is only about to thicken even further now that Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all NFL players against FanDuel.

FOX Sports columnist Mike Garafolo first reported the news with a copy of the class action lawsuit that Garcon and his attorneys filed to a district court in Maryland on Friday afternoon:

The crux of Garcon and the NFL players’ case against FanDuel is that the company has been using the likenesses of players for profit of their business without the consent of the players. As the lawsuit argues, FanDuel’s business model would not even be possible if it weren’t for the performance and likenesses of NFL players, yet the players feel that they should have to give consent for that type of profit to be made.

This is an interesting wrinkle to add to the controversy of daily fantasy sports as it adds a completely different set of opposing arguments against them. We’ve heard all about the stories of insider trading and the problems that stem from that, as well as the tricky line between fantasy sports and gambling that sites like FanDuel toe legally. However, the idea of profiting off of NFL players without their consent is something that hasn’t been brought to the forefront until Friday with this lawsuit.

With all of the firepower being shot at FanDuel and daily fantasy sports just in the past few weeks, it almost feels like the industry is in it’s dying days after their meteoric rise to prominence in the sports world. If it’s not the end, it definitely feels like the end of daily fantasy sports in the way that the industry is currently constructed.