Odell Beckham Jr. was recently cleared to return to action, and his first move was to sue his sponsor, Nike.
The free agent filed a $20.6 million lawsuit against the sports giant, alleging that they failed to fulfill their obligations to the 3x Pro Bowler.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
According to Front Office Sports, who obtained a copy of the lawsuit, Nike matched Adidas’ 2017 offer worth up to $47 million to keep Beckham on the Nike roster.
Unfortunately, states the lawsuit, “Beckham’s relationship with Nike began to sour” in March after Nike withheld more than $2 million of the approximately $2.6 million that Beckham expected as payment.
But the bad blood didn’t stop there according to Beckham.
“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,” stated the lawsuit.
Odell did not mince words in his statement on Twitter.
Continue reading over at First and Pen.
This content has been brought to you by First and Pen in partnership with TheHub.News. First and Pen “amplifies local sports stories from voices of color to the national conscience…”
