A federal judge has denied the NCAA’s request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to immediately stop DraftKings from using trademarked basketball terminology like “March Madness“, although the college sports body may still be able to obtain a preliminary or permanent injunction in the future.
The NCAA filed a complaint for trademark infringement against DraftKings in the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on March 20. DraftKings argued in response that its usage of NCAA basketball trademarks, which also include names like “Final Four“, “Elite Eight“, and “Sweet Sixteen” constituted fair use and “plain text”.
In an order issued on March 26, Indiana judge Tanya Walton Pratt determined that while the NCAA may be likely to succeed in its ultimate pursuit of injunctive relief, it did not sufficiently prove that it would suffer “irreparable harm” from DraftKings’ short-term usage.
To obtain emergency TRO relief, the NCAA was required to establish a likelihood of success on the merits, that the balance of equities tips in its favor, that issuing an injunction is in the public interest, and that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm from immediate continued usage. The court ruled that NCAA satisfied all of those conditions except for meeting the threshold for showing irreparable harm.
Judge clarifies timeline of dispute
The judge’s March 26 order detailed several aspects of the timeline and the interactions between DraftKings and the NCAA. DraftKings has used the term ‘March Madness’ on its platform since at least 2021 and has used it on its sportsbook platform since at least 2023, she wrote.
On March 3, 2026, the NCAA sent a cease-and-desist letter to DraftKings demanding that the operator stop any and all use of the NCAA basketball marks and agree in writing not to use ‘March Madness’ “and/or any confusingly similar variations in the future”.
DraftKings responded on March 10 to state that although they believed that their citations of “March Madness” were fair use, they removed all pages that used the phrase. On March 17, the NCAA noted that DraftKings was still using the NCAA basketball trademarks in a manner that the association believed to be unauthorized.
Pratt found that for several reasons, including the fact that DraftKings has used the NCAA’s basketball trademarks for years and the fact that the governing body has not challenged that in court until now, there is no basis for determining that the NCAA would suffer from irreparable harm if a TRO was not issued now.
Court references Kalshi concessions
DraftKings argues that its use of the NCAA marks is “entirely referential” and that there is no workable substitute for the terms.
“DraftKings argues that the NCAA’s proposed alternatives — ‘NCAA Tournament’ or ‘Division I’ ‘college basketball’ tournament — are not only cumbersome but ambiguous as multiple NCAA tournaments occur simultaneously,” wrote Pratt.
The court disagreed, finding that DraftKings could use more general terminology such as the “Men’s Division I Semi-Finals” instead of “Final Four”.
Pratt cited Kalshi as an example of the feasibility of such a measure.
Last November, the NCAA wrote to the prediction markets platform to ask that it stop implying a close relationship with the college sports governing body through language such as “outcome verified from NCAA” with hyperlinks to the NCAA website. The association requested that Kalshi amend its language to clarify that it has no affiliation with the college sports body.
In the DraftKings court update on Thursday, Pratt noted that other platforms such as Kalshi are identifying the rounds of the NCAA tournaments using “common names such as ‘Men’s Round of 16 Qualifiers'” rather than using the NCAA’s basketball trademarks.
Other sportsbooks halted use
Judge Pratt wrote that as of March 22 and 23, various other betting platforms were still displaying the March Madness-related trademarks in connection with their online wagering platforms, including FanDuel, BetMGM, bet365, Fanatics, and BetRivers.
However, on March 23, a spokesperson for the NCAA told SBC Americas that other sportsbooks had complied with its request to stop using those phrases. As of March 23, SBC Americas identified that FanDuel was using terminology such as “NCAA Basketball Mens Games”, BetMGM was displaying “Men’s March Matchups” and theScore Bet was showing “NCAAB Championship 2026.”
In contrast, wrote Pratt, DraftKings’ continued use of the trademarked terms implies that DraftKings and NCAA have an affiliation agreement, when the reality is that the NCAA has directed DraftKings not to use those marks.
“The NCAA adds that this deliberate and intentional copying evinces DraftKings’ overall intent to create the perception of association with or sponsorship by the NCAA and DraftKings’ removal of the most egregious of its infringements does not negate this clear intent,” added the judge.
NCAA could still get an injunction
“The NCAA has made the requisite showing that three of the four elements necessary for a TRO exists, but given the exacting standard required for a temporary restraining order, they have not shown irreparable harm,” concluded Pratt.
However, although the request for an emergency TRO was denied, the judge noted that with further discovery, the NCAA may be able to show they are entitled to a preliminary or permanent injunction, and those claims remain pending.
