Odell Beckham Jr. is suing Nike
Odell Beckham Jr. has filed a lawsuit against Nike that alleges the shoe giant withheld millions of dollars in the free-agent receiver’s endorsement deal.
Beckham took to Twitter Monday night to explain why he’s taking legal action via a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed in an Oregon court.
“Today, I’m taking a stand not just for me, but to set a precedent for all athletes who have dedicated their life to the sport they love — especially those who don’t have the means to stand up for themselves,” Beckham wrote. “We are held responsible for fulfilling our obligations under our contracts, but we also have to hold powerful companies like Nike accountable for honoring their commitments too.”
The lawsuit alleges that Beckham “has suffered damages of $20,625,000 plus prejudgment interest.”
According to the lawsuit obtained by Front Office Sports, Nike matched an offer worth up to $47 million from Adidas in 2017 when his original Nike contract expired. But the lawsuit states that in March, “Beckham’s relationship with Nike began to sour” after Nike kept more than $2 million of the nearly $2.6 million Beckham expected to be paid.
Nike did not provide comments when reached for this story.
The lawsuit also alleges that “Nike stopped actively manufacturing and/or selling royalty generating products after 2020 to prevent Mr. Beckham from meeting the net sales trigger for the guaranteed extensions.”
Beckham, 30, recently was cleared to return to football after recovering from a knee injury suffered while playing for the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.
“This happens too often in the sports industry and it’s time for change,” Beckham said in his statement.
—A.J. Perez is a senior reporter at Front Office Sports
