In one Illinois baseball town, the melodic crack of the bat is, at present, muted by the stark echo of the courtroom gavel.
The Chicago Tribune’s has reported that Grand Slam Sports & Entertainment, LLC, d/b/a the Lake County Fielders minor league professional baseball team (of the recently-formed North American League), has filed suit in Lake County Circuit Court against the City of Zion, Illinois (and other defendants). Grand Slam Sports & Entertainment, LLC seeks approximately $10.7 million from the City of Zion to build a stadium it alleges city officials promised. Apparently, Grand Slam contends the city should build the $7.5 million stadium and pay it $3.7 million in damages or, alternatively, pay it $10.7 to end the nightmare altogether.
The Tribune reports that a Lake County Fielders spokesman claims the organization was fooled into keeping the team at its temporary playing quarters on the promise of a permanent home. As reported, Grand Slam Sports & Entertainment, LLC, through its lengthy civil complaint, asserts multiple counts of fraud, breach of contract and tortious interference—and includes allegations that a city official and real estate developer connected to the stadium project had a “vested interest” in moving the planned stadium to a “site favored by a company in which [the real estate developer] shares a partnership,” and in which the company had a $7.2 million mortgage. As reported, the Fielders allege the team was lured to its present stadium site because management believed a “ballpark village” would be built around the stadium site—which, never materialized.
The paper also reports, in a related lawsuit, also recently filed in the Lake County Circuit Court, the former public address announcer for the Lake County Fielders alleges the ownership group (which, according to the Lake County Fielders’s website, includes Kevin Costner) owes him unpaid compensation he purportedly earned during the 2011 season.
These pieces of litigation reiterate the high-stakes nature of the sports-business industry—and particularly, remind us of the significance of things like venue, sponsorship deals, and supplier contracts play in the overall success of sports-business ventures, especially at the local level.
Attorney Stephen Boulton is representing the team’s owners.
Symes is an attorney at Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. in Eau Claire, WI. He can be reached at bsymes@ruderware.com
