National Football League v. Governor of Delaware

435 F. Supp. 1372 (1977)

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National Football League v. Governor of Delaware

United States District Court for the District of Delaware
435 F. Supp. 1372 (1977)

  • Written by Steven Pacht, JD

Facts

The Delaware Lottery (lottery) ran several contests (collectively, Scoreboard) based on the scores of National Football League (NFL) (plaintiff) games during the 1976 season. The lottery did not use NFL team names in its contest, instead referring to teams by their home cities. The lottery did, however, utilize the NFL’s publicly available schedule and scores after such information was widely disseminated. The NFL sued, among others, the governor of Delaware (governor) (defendant), asserting numerous claims, including claims for misappropriation and unfair competition. The NFL’s claims centered on its alleged reputational harm and loss of goodwill from being associated with gambling, which the NFL sought to support with a consumer survey. The NFL also submitted survey evidence showing that a substantial portion of the relevant public believed that the NFL sponsored or approved Scoreboard. The NFL’s requested relief included an order requiring the lottery to turn over to the NFL the proceeds the lottery received from Scoreboard. In response, the governor argued, among other things, that the lottery did not use commercially valuable NFL information and that there was no evidence that the extensive legal and illegal gambling on NFL games other than Scoreboard had injured the NFL. The court issued its posttrial findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Stapleton, J.)

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Casebooks

Sports Law

Key Terms

  • Unfair CompetitionAn action for unfair competition lies in the intentional doing of some act to the detriment of another’s business without just cause or excuse.
  • InjunctionA form of equitable relief in which a party is ordered to perform or refrain from performing a certain act.
  • MisappropriationThe act of dishonestly taking something that belongs to someone else and using it for oneself. Misappropriation is also a type of unfair competition claim in which the defendant appropriates the plaintiff’s intellectual property if the intellectual property at issue is not otherwise protected by copyright, patent, trademark, or as a trade secret.
  • Likelihood of ConfusionThe probability that potential consumers will be confused about the source of the product. Courts use likelihood of confusion as a standard to evaluate trademark infringement claims.

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