USTA Files Complaint Against Olympus for Breach of Contract; Seeks $12M
The U.S.T.A. has filed a claim against Olympus, a U.S. Open sponsor since 2003, which claims the company has backed out of its sponsorship agreement a year early due to apparent category conflicts with Panasonic, according to CourthouseNews.com.
According to Courthouse News, the issues stem from the U.S.T.A.'s partnership with CBS Sports, DirecTV and Panasonic to film and broadcast matches in 3D.
"Because Panasonic is expressly identified in the Olympus agreement as not being a 'competitive company' with regard to Olympus and because the scope of the two sponsorship agreements are markedly different, there is no conflict between the two sponsorship," according to the complaint.
The U.S.T.A. monitored both sponsors to ensure that both abided by the category rights that the U.S.T.A. negotiated with them, but a "slip-up" gave Olympus the opportunity to cancel the years left on its agreement. Read more from Courthouse News to learn about the incident that Olympus seized on.
The U.S.T.A. says it was "an illusory basis on which [Olympus sought to] avoid the significant financial commitment it is required to pay."
Here's the U.S.T.A.'s full complaint, uploaded by Courthouse News.
