Tuesday’s rulings in the CBS Interactive lawsuit against the NFL Players Association were even better news than we here at FSB.com realized.

After gathering more information on the proceedings and talking to some people smarter than we are, it has become clear that the NFLPA is very near the same result that Major League Baseball and its players association found in challenging fantasy companies previously.

The key part is that in granting CBS’ motion for summary judgment, the U.S. district court judge presiding over the suit in Minnesota ruled in the plaintiff’s favor — including a declaration that use of player statistics, news and headshots for fantasy games is protected by the First Amendment.

The NFLPA has 30 days from the date of the ruling to appeal the case and seems like it probably will. After all, this is pretty much the last chance for the league and players association limit access for fantasy game providers. If the ruling stands, the NFLPA — like MLB before it — won’t be allowed to take any other fantasy entities to court anywhere in the country over the same issues.

Of course, if the appeal is filed, it will head to the same Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled in favor of CBC in the baseball case. It’s tough to imagine the court going against its own previous ruling.

If baseball and football are both blocked in attempts to extract payments for access to player statistics, names and licenses, other sports would seem unlikely to mount similar challenges. They would certainly be allowed to, but the size of the fantasy markets in baseball and football put a lot more money on the line in licensing disputes. Would it be worth the lawyer fees for NASCAR or PGA to take fantasy providers to court? Probably not.

One also has to wonder whether such a challenge would be worth any potential public relations fallout that could accompany. With a smaller fan base than MLB or the NFL enjoy, the NHL — for instance — would feel the effects more of alienating any portion of its followers.

So, fantasy folks, although we’re not officially at an endpoint in the fight between sports leagues and game providers, we certainly appear to be closing in on the unofficial finish line.

Last spring, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by Major League Baseball Advanced Media and MLB Players Association, effectively ending baseball’s case against fantasy providers (led by CBC in that lawsuit).

Three months after the High Court’s ruling, CBS Interactive sued the NFL Players Association to halt another attempt to extract money from fantasy sports providers for stats and other player info that resides in the public domain.

Well, the first set of rulings have been handed down in the CBS v. NFLPA case, and the procedure sure seems to be favoring the fantasy community. According to the court dockets, here’s what has come so far …

1. The NFLPA’s motion to dismiss the suit for “lack of personal jurisdiction” was denied.

2. The NFLPA’s motion to dismiss on grounds of “failure to state a claim” was granted, while that on grounds of “failure to join an indispensable party” was denied.

3. The NFLPA’s motions to change the venue (away from the Eighth Circuit) were denied.

4. “Count IV of the First Amended Complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

5. CBS’ “motion for partial summary judgment” was granted.

6. “Counts II and III of the First Amended Complaint are DISMISSED as moot.”

Now, we’re not lawyers here at FSB.com, but we do know some. We’ll continue to gather information and analysis on the rulings so far and share our results with you.