NCAA Sues DraftKings Over ‘March Madness’ Branding in Sports Betting Push

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has filed a lawsuit against sports-betting company DraftKings, challenging its use of trademarked phrases linked to the widely followed US college basketball tournament known as “March Madness.”

Filed on Friday in a federal court in Indiana, the lawsuit aims to stop DraftKings from using protected tournament terms such as “March Madness,” “Final Four,” “Elite Eight,” and “Sweet Sixteen.”

In its complaint, the NCAA said it has consistently declined partnerships with gambling platforms due to its “strongly held belief” that sports betting threatens competitive integrity, puts student-athletes at risk, and opens the door to possible manipulation of games.

The annual tournament, which crowns national champions in men’s and women’s college basketball, began last week. According to estimates by the American Gaming Association, Americans are expected to wager about $3.3 billion on this year’s games.

The NCAA alleged that DraftKings began using its trademarks on its betting platform “on the eve of the tournaments,” creating a misleading association with the organisation and damaging its reputation.

Responding to the claims, a DraftKings spokesperson said the company does not use “March Madness” as a trademark but employs the term and similar phrases solely to identify the games, arguing that such usage is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

In a statement, the NCAA described the lawsuit as “a crucial step” in safeguarding both the integrity of competition and the well-being of student-athletes from the risks posed by sports betting.

The complaint also raised concerns about “prop” bets — wagers on individual player performances — saying they heighten the risk of harassment and pressure from bettors, while potentially encouraging improper influence on players.

Separately, NCAA president Michael Selig has urged the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to suspend college sports prediction markets on platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket until stronger safeguards are in place. He reiterated the association’s long-standing position calling for the elimination of proposition betting markets in college sports.

The NCAA is seeking unspecified monetary damages along with a court order to halt what it describes as trademark infringement. The case, titled National Collegiate Athletic Association v. DraftKings Inc, has been filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

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