Friday, December 13, 1996

Jones, NFL settle lawsuits over licensing, marketing

By LINDA LEAVELL / Associated Press (Dec. 13, 1996)

DALLAS - The NFL finally gave Cowboys owner Jerry Jones the response he wanted for his deal with Nike: Just do it.

The NFL and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Friday settled their dueling lawsuits over licensing and marketing deals.

The league filed a $300 million lawsuit against Jones in September 1995, claiming he had entered into licensing and sponsorship arrangements that violated the league's revenue-sharing policies, including deals with Pepsi, Nike, Dr Pepper, American Express and AT&T.

The NFL alleged the deals violated a trust agreement the club signed in 1982 authorizing the NFL to negotiate commercial uses of the team's name, helmet, uniform and slogans.

Jones responded with a $700 million countersuit in federal court in New York, accusing the league of blocking teams from conducting their own marketing business.

All parties said they settled after acknowledging that it was time to move forward and get past costly litigation.

But the settlement also means Jones is free to continue his existing Texas Stadium sponsorships and enter into new ones with no obligation to share the revenue with the NFL, said Dick Cass, stadium and team lawyer.

"If that is indeed the case - that the Cowboys are allowed to keep all these agreements and in fact are allowed to sign more - to me (it) is a rather surprising outcome," said Jim Andrews, vice president of International Events Group in Chicago, which publishes IEG Sponsorship Report, a biweekly newsletter that tracks corporate sponsorship of sports and other events.

Andrews said he supposed the NFL decided to trade away some of its control over marketing rather than "raise the whole specter of antitrust as it relates to the league."

"From the marketing standpoint alone, it doesn't make any sense to allow the Cowboys, and by default now any other club that wants to, sign their own agreements," he said.

Jones said the agreement shows that the league has recognized "that Texas Stadium can market itself consistent with league rules and policies, and we have agreed to work together for the betterment of the entire NFL."

Ending the litigation will pave the way for Jones to join the other NFL owners in promoting the league, commissioner Paul Tagliabue said.

"This agreement recognizes that our mutual goal of having the NFL and its teams stay at the forefront of sports marketing would best be served by all 30 teams and the league working together to build the best possible structure for the future," he said.

NFL spokesman Chris Widmaier added that the agreement showed the league's sponsors and licensees that the NFL was ready to protect their interests. It also promoted a "clearer understanding of the line between stadium sponsorship and club sponsorship," he said.

Andrews said that line is "very clear to the marketing people and to the attorneys &emdash; it's not clear to the fans."

"That's the group that doesn't make the distinction. That's who these companies have paid the NFL major dollars to reach," he added.

AT&T's Chris Schein said the prestige of being associated with Texas Stadium goes beyond Dallas Cowboys' games - to concerts, tractor pulls and high school athletic competitions.

"From the start we said that the relationship was good for both football and fans and it was a quantum leap forward as to the way teams will be marketed in the future. It's good to hear that the NFL agrees with that," said Brad Shaw, a spokesman for Pepsi.

"We knew from the start that we were also shaking up the status quo. But that's what we're all about and that's what Jerry Jones is all about."