73 Am. U. L. Rev. F. 79 (2024).

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Abstract

In this Response, the Author applies the findings of James Grimmelmann and Christian Mulligan’s Data Property to an emerging context: sports betting. In the wake of a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed for expanded legalized sports wagering nationwide, such application is timely, with roughly three-fourths of the states now offering some form of regulated sports gambling. The Author keys in on the non-exclusivity of Grimmelmann and Mulligan’s data property framework and suggests three near-future litigation examples that could result. The Author also explains how existing torts—such as conversion and misappropriation—potentially fit within the concept of data property as applied to sports betting. The Author concludes by tying existing precedent to high-tech sports wagering and argues that existing remedies are sufficient to address plausible claims surrounding data usage in sports gambling. Despite coordinated lobbying that says otherwise, the Author posits that no new remedial options are needed to address data property issues in the growing legalized sports betting landscape.

* Professor, Florida State University. Ph.D., Indiana University Bloomington, 2009; J.D., University of Washington, 2000; B.S., B.A., Creighton University, 1997.