Five Common Types of Business Disputes – NFL Training Camp Edition

From Contract Disputes to Intellectual Property and Succession Issues, the NFL Has it All

We are constantly asked “You’re business law attorneys, you must see it all. What’s the most common types of disputes you see?” Okay, not exactly like that, and the question has been known to be asked at parties or functions where alcohol is served. Nevertheless, it’s a good question.

The ‘real’ answer is that every business law issue is unique. Really. The subject matters may be alike, but the fact patterns make every matter completely different. The major reason – aside the fact business law subjects can be incredibly complex – people.

Business law issues affect people’s livelihoods. They affect their family’s lives. There is almost always an emotional element to every business law matter that always has to be recognized and taken into consideration.

That out of the way, here’s some examples from the NFL as the teams get ready for the exhibition season.

Contract Disputes

If it’s training camp time, it’s breach of contract time. It’s the time for players under contract but unhappy with said contract’s term to . . . take a seat.

NFL players can become unhappy with their contracts for a number of reasons, but most usually revolve around going into the last year of a contract with no guarantees about what happens at the end of the season. Since every day on a professional football field, be it practice or games, is a not so-insignificant chance for a season or career ending injury, it’s understandable that anyone looking out for their future would be hesitant to step on a field until their contract is addressed.

Players, like the Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb, 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams – all vital to their teams’ success – are ‘holding out.’ In the NFL, there are three ways to hold out: not show up for training camp; show up at the training camp facilities but refuse to take the field; practice while reminding management it’s a day-to-day thing and you can walk off the field at any time (see Matthew Judon, Patriots).

Intellectual Property Disputes

Early in July, a former New York Jets employee sued the team (and the NFL and NFL Properties) accusing them of using his logo design without compensation.

Take out ‘New York Jets’ and ‘NFL’ and the fact pattern is fairly common in intellectual property actions brought by employees against their employers.

The facts: William “Jim” Pons worked for the Jets for years, starting in the 1970s. He was their film and video director, producing in-house game films. In 1978, the Jets announced they were looking for a new logo. Pons, who had taken some graphic art classes, decided to give it a try.

The Jets picked Pons’ design. It was in use from 1978 to 1997. It is being brought back for the 2024 season. Something, apparently, Pons only became aware of when the Jets sent a film crew to his home in Florida in April 2022 to discuss his “instrumental role in Jets’ logo history.”

Pons discovered that the NFL, on behalf of the Jets, had just filed a trademark application to register his design while asserting that the logo had been in continuous use since 1970. The application covers caps, hats, shirts. And more.

Pons’ action includes claims for unjust enrichment, misappropriation, right of publicity violation, and trademark cancellation. He contends that since 2023, the defendants have “unlawfully made hundreds of millions of dollars” via licensing, advertising and merchandise sales while illegally using his design and ideas.

Again, a fairly common occurrence – an employee contributes something outside their usual duties, the company adopts/uses it, gets a patent or trademark, the employee feels cheated.

It’s unlikely this case will go anywhere – it’s 40-some years over the statute of limitations (unless the court, somehow, decides that the new trademark filing resets it) and there are some crazy allegations tossed in it as well. One thing, though, the Jets have dozens of public relations issues going on at any given time, they don’t need another ‘Badly run Jets mistreat the guy who invented their logo’ NY Post back page headline.

Employment Disputes

You don’t hear a lot about employment disputes in the NFL because all NFL contracts include mandatory arbitration clauses. The NFL, of course, is not immune to employee disputes based on breaches of contract, discrimination, wrongful termination, and much more.

But we don’t hear about it often due to the arbitration clause. Something a lot of businesses include in employment contracts for that reason. Privacy. It’s also while many employee disputes are settled in mediation. Privacy.

Every once in a while, however, the NFL ends up in a courtroom. In this case, a federal courtroom: Jim Trotter, an award-winning journalist filed suit against the NFL over two years ago. From 2018 to 2023 he worked for NFL Media.

Trotter contends he was subject to disparate treatment, situated in a hostile work environment and denied a contract extension because he challenged the NFL in a news conference with its commissioner, Roger Goodell, about race discrimination and lack of diversity.

Immediately after, Trotter says he stopped getting assignments, was excluded from work functions, and had become “officially persona non grata at the NFL.” When he emailed his concerns to his bosses, he was informed his contract was not being renewed.

He also contended that the arbitration clause was invalid in his case. In July, a federal District Court ruled in his favor on one key count and is allowing the suit to move forward while arbitration is ordered for the remaining counts.

Part of the case, then, is headed to a public forum where we will get a glimpse into the NFL not previously seen.

Shareholder Disputes

The NFL is finally free of Dan Snyder, the Washington Commanders were sold in May 2023 to the overwhelming approval of every Washington fan who ever lived.

One of the [many] reasons Snyder was finally, after years of trying, forced to sell was a previously little-known shareholder dispute between Synder and his three minority owners/shareholders. It seems that they discovered, in a footnote in an April 2020 financial report, that Synder had taken out a $55 million credit line without the knowledge and required approval of the minority partners - three billionaires who owned 40% of the franchise.

Loans of any kind without the approval of the other shareholders (and board of directors) violated the team's shareholder agreement. The shareholders would have filed suit, but they were bound by an arbitration clause.

A federal grand jury, however, got wind of the arbitration dispute – quite possible tipped off by a shareholder after Roger Goodell and an NFL arbitrator refused to investigate the claims.

The grand jury acquired the partners' arbitration petition and other supporting materials, including emails and letters between team executives and bank lawyers. Shortly after, Goodell proposed private mediation. According to ESPN, "The mediation lasted for two days, and the parties subsequently reached an agreement whereby the three limited partners sold all of their interests in the team to Mr. Snyder at an agreed-upon price and other terms. Everyone was represented by very sophisticated legal and financial advisors.”

“. . .very sophisticated legal and financial advisors.” We weren’t involved but we think that sums Hopkins Centrich up very nicely.