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NCAA asks court to stop DraftKings from using trademarked terms such as 'March Madness'
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AP Wire

NCAA asks court to stop DraftKings from using trademarked terms such as 'March Madness'

  • AP
  • Updated

The NCAA has filed a complaint in federal court seeking an emergency restraining order against online sportsbook DraftKings. The NCAA wants DraftKings to stop using registered trademarks associated with its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The complaint for trademark infringement was filed in the Southern District of Indiana and requests that DraftKings refrain from using terms such as “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight” and “Sweet Sixteen” or variations of them in sports wagering products, promotional campaigns and marketing. DraftKings says in a statement that it is not engaging in trademark infringement.

Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida lead title odds for March Madness, bettors expect chalky results
National News
AP Wire

Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida lead title odds for March Madness, bettors expect chalky results

  • By MARK ANDERSON - AP Sports Writer
  • Updated

Sportsbooks see top seeds Duke, Arizona, Michigan, and Florida as the clear favorites to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. One betting analyst said the bracket still leaves room for a surprise Final Four run. Bruce Marshall of WagerTalk said he doubts all four No. 1 seeds reach Indianapolis. He pointed to Virginia as a possible breakout team and said Michigan looks beatable in its region. Caesars analyst Patrick Berbert says bettors expect a “chalky” tournament again. He linked that trend to NIL, which he says widens the gap between top programs and others.

National News
AP

Man who helped recruit players into a sprawling NCAA basketball point-shaving scheme pleads guilty

  • By MARC LEVY - Associated Press
  • Updated

One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme to cash in on big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games has pleaded guilty. The federal prosecutors' office in Philadelphia says Jalen Smith appeared Monday in federal court and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges. Prosecutors say the Charlotte, North Carolina, man trained local basketball players and used those connections to recruit players in the scheme. Charges against Smith were unsealed in January along with 25 others. Prosecutors say Smith helped fix games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. They say he placed bets and recruited players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game.

National News
AP

MrBeast's company fired a video editor after Kalshi accused the employee of insider trading

  • By JAMES POLLARD - Associated Press

A MrBeast video editor has been fired after accusations of insider trading by Kalshi. The prediction market operator says the immensely popular YouTube channel's employee traded about $4,000 on YouTube streaming markets with “near-perfect” success. The user has been suspended from Kalshi for two years and fined $20,000. A spokesperson for Beast Industries has confirmed the editor's firing and says the company has “no tolerance for this behavior." The incident places Beast Industries, founded by Jimmy Donaldson, in the middle of a debate over whether prediction markets are a form of gambling. Kalshi allows participants to wager on the probable outcome of events ranging from sports to geopolitics.