Broncos Coach Shanahan Files Suit Over Endorsement Deal

Shanahan Files Suit Over Endorsement Deal

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan has filed a lawsuit in Weld County (CO) District Court alleging that developer Martin Lind “has not honored an endorsement agreement” made in ’01, according to Margaret Jackson of the DENVER POST. Shanahan claims that he agreed to allow Lind to use his name and likeness to sell residential lots at his Water Valley development in Windsor, Colorado, in exchange for one of the lots. Lind’s partner at the time was Steve Watson, now a Broncos assistant coach. When the deal was made, Lind valued the lot at $100,000-150,000, and he said it is currently worth about $225,000. Shanahan said that a print ad featuring him ran “numerous times,” but Lind said that the ad was “the only work Shanahan performed on behalf of Water Valley and that it wasn’t enough to warrant paying him a full lot.” Lind: “As you can imagine, I was expecting fairly significant services” (DENVER POST, 12/22).