Sponsor sues Major League Baseball 15/11/2010 |
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Anheuser-Busch is suing Major League Baseball, accusing it of breaking an exclusive agreement making the brewer’s Budweiser brand the league’s official beer.
Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP), which manages trademarks for the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, demanded that Anheuser-Busch renegotiate a renewal agreement signed in April and pay “an exponentially higher rights fee”, according to a complaint filed by the company in Manhattan federal court.
“The MLBP sponsorship is critical to Anheuser-Busch’s marketing efforts,” the brewer said in the complaint. “These rights enable Anheuser-Busch to reach millions of customers and prospective customers on a daily basis during baseball season.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev is seeking a court declaration enforcing the deal and preventing MLBP from negotiating with any other brewers for sponsorship rights. The lawsuit does not request money damages.
“We have a different view of what has been reported,” said Major League Baseball spokesman Matt Bourne, who declined to comment further.
The brewer has been a sponsor of Major League Baseball since 1980 and is a former owner of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. The company was based in St. Louis before 2008, when Anheuser-Busch merged with InBev, creating the world’s biggest brewer.
Anheuser-Busch is one of 18 sponsors of Major League Baseball. Other sponsors include Nike, MasterCard and PepsiCo.
The brewer also has sponsorship deals with 26 Major League clubs.
Anheuser-Busch claims the parties reached a renewal agreement in April but, according to the complaint, MLBP said the April agreement was not binding and that it would offer the sponsorship rights to other beer companies.
“In 2010 alone, Anheuser-Busch will invest tens of millions of dollars in advertising and promotions related to Major League Baseball,” the company added in the complaint.
Anheuser-Busch called the April agreement "clear, unambiguous, binding and more than fair".
It argued that the league had changed its position after Anheuser also became official beer sponsor of the National Football League in May.
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