Two Former NFLers Sue Players Inc. Over Licensing Fees

Former NFLers Bernie Parrish and Herb Adderley filed a class-action lawsuit against Players Inc. in U.S. District Court in S.F. yesterday claiming that Players Inc. has “improperly represented more than 3,500 retired players and may owe them ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in back licensing fees,” according to Alan Schwarz of the N.Y. TIMES. The suit “asserts that Players Inc. has behaved as a representative for most former NFL players while distributing little money from, or information regarding, agreements with licensees like video-game manufacturers and apparel companies.” The complaint includes a copy of an e-mail from a Players Inc. exec that “said $7[M] was distributed in 2005 to 358 former players, or roughly 10[%] of the retirees Players Inc. says in its literature that it represents.” Adderley: “They used retired players to benefit themselves by promoting the retired players and not compensating them for it.” Adderley “claims to have received no money from a 2003 agreement he signed with Players Inc. to license his name for a line of Reebok products, and that his letters and telephone calls over two years to inquire about this were not returned.” A Players Inc. spokesperson said that the organization would not comment “until it had time to review all of the information regarding the complaint” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/15).