Steiner sues David Ortiz

[Number9]

NEW YORK -- A sports memorabilia company sued Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz for
$1 million Friday, claiming he breached a contract by failing to autograph a required number of items and appear at "meet-and-greet'' events.

Steiner Sports Marketing Inc. of New Rochelle, N.Y., said the company signed Ortiz to a contract to autograph 13,000 items, appear at public signing events, and to do these things exclusively for Steiner until Jan. 31, 2008.
"Ortiz has constantly remained substantially below the amount of memorabilia items required to be signed under the agreement,'' according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court.
Steiner claims that Ortiz skipped several scheduled public appearances, and when he did show up, he didn't autograph the minimum amount of memorabilia required by the contract.
Ortiz also violated the exclusivity clause of their agreement by providing at least four other companies with autographed memorabilia and game-used items, diluting the value of items provided to Steiner, the suit claims.
The lawsuit asks for $1 million plus interest and an accounting of Ortiz' dealings with memorabilia companies in which he received money for autographs and used items.
Ortiz' agent, SFX Baseball Group LLC, did not immediately return a call for comment.
(From ESPN.com and AP)

[allstarsplus]

I would love to see that contract become public.

I wonder what time frame the 13,000 autographs were for as the end date was January 2008, but it didn't state the start date. That seems like a ton of merchandise.

The Steiner website tonight states this for Ortiz "Big Papi" balls:

David Ortiz Autographed "Big Papi" Baseball
# ORTIBAS000001
$349. 99
5 or less left!



With some simple math using $250 for a low price for 13,000 pieces===Sales revenue would be $3,250,000

That is some big $$$$$$$$$

Andrew

[kingjammy24]

so will steiner also sue arod?

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ead.php?t=9150

no wonder there are boxes of ortiz "gamers" out there, directly from ortiz.

rudy.

[kingjammy24]

With some simple math using $250 for a low price for 13,000 pieces===Sales revenue would be $3,250,000
That is some big $$$$$$$$$
Andrew

in 2000, steiner was acquired by omnicom group for approx $25 million. that was before steiner secured their yankees, mets, and redsox contracts.

omnicom's net income in 2006 was $864 million. steiner's recent annual sales were approx $23+ million (memorabilia + marketing). (according to hoovers).

rudy.

[allstarsplus]

steiner secured their yankees, mets, and redsox contracts.

steiner's recent annual sales were approx $23+ million (memorabilia + marketing). (according to hoovers).

rudy.

Don't forget Steiner's exclusive with Notre Dame too and the fact that the Red Sox were recently added. Their revenue growth looks good for the forseeable future.

so will steiner also sue arod?

I'm not answering for Steiner, but I don't see Steiner suing ARod but rather I am sure all the Yankees get subtle reminders about their jerseys. Steiner has no exclusive with ARod as Steiner's contract is with the Yankees so if Steiner has a problem with jerseys disappearing I would think the call would be to the Yankees.

The Ortiz lawsuit is more related to autographs. Steiner listed David Ortiz as an "exclusive" athlete prior to their Red Sox agreement.

Andrew