A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a former top DraftKings exec who quit on Feb. 1 to join one of the online betting company’s archrivals “may continue working there.” DraftKings filed a lawsuit on Monday night to block MICHAEL HERMALYN, its former SVP/Business Development, from working at Fanatics and alleged that Hermalyn had downloaded secret marketing plans for the upcoming Super Bowl and other confidential documents. U.S. District Judge JULIA KOBICK said that she would "issue a limited temporary restraining order prohibiting Hermalyn from using confidential information he retained from DraftKings or soliciting any DraftKings employees to work for Fanatics." But she rejected DraftKings’ request to block Hermalyn from his new job (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/8).
PUNCHING BACK: Professional boxer JARON "BOOTS" ENNIS is suing his promoter and seeking to have his contract voided, alleging the company breached the terms of their agreement. Ennis, the reigning International Boxing Federation welterweight champion, filed the lawsuit against Now Boxing Promotions claiming the promoter has “failed to provide the number of fights promised in his contract and is refusing to let him participate in available matches.” Ennis is seeking at least $1M in damages for lost fight opportunities and compensation (PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/8).
NAMES: During Wednesday’s season three premiere of ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” which is based in Philadelphia, a few Eagles finally made an appearance -- QB JALEN HURTS, DT BRANDON GRAHAM and C JASON KELCE (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/8)....A Cincinnati startup co-founded by former NFLer DHANI JONES has landed millions of dollars in new funding. ActionStreamer, a streaming platform used by the sports, entertainment, defense and telecommunications industries, closed a $2.4M Series A funding round. The Castellini Management Co., owners of the Reds, also co-invested in the round (CINCINNATI BUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/8)….Former MLBer BO JACKSON has won a $21M verdict in his civil case against his niece and nephew for trying to extort him. Jackson "claimed the harassment started in 2022 and included threatening social media posts and messages, public allegations that put him in a false light, and public disclosure of private information intended to cause him severe emotional distress" (AP, 2/8)....This year’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race Weekend headliners are KETIH URBAN, THE CHAINSMOKERS, THE BLACK KEYS and LAUREN ALAINA (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 2/8).
ATTENTION ASPIRING AUTHORS: Sports Business Journal is getting into the book publishing business, as we are launching a venture with Amplify Publishing Group that will allow SBJ’s readers to explore publishing through the SBJ/Amplify imprint. SBJ has been approached many times over the years by aspiring authors, and we are excited to see where it leads. Learn more about it at: www.sbj-publishing.com.
