The New York Jets franchise is asking the Delaware Chancery Court to appoint a receiver for Fubo Gaming, Inc. after the mobile sports betting venture, which had a sponsorship agreement in place with the Jets, was shuttered.
Specifically, the Jets are hoping to recover a $1.18 million sponsorship payment from Fubo Gaming, which is overdue. That payment was part of a $12 million, five-year sponsorship agreement that Fubo Gaming had with the Jets.
A 2021 press release described the parameters of the agreement as follows: “The partnership centers around the creation of the Fubo Sportsbook Lounge at MetLife Stadium for Jets home games, set to debut during the 2021-22 NFL season, and will be the first authorized, mobile sports betting lounge in the stadium. In addition, Fubo Sportsbook will become the presenting partner of the Jets Mobile App and is the team’s first legal sports betting (LSB) partner to leverage the Jets’ new advertising data partnership with Sportradar.”
The best laid plans went awry on Oct. 17 when FuboTV, the parent of Fubo Gaming, announced it was shuttering the subsidiary and cancelling the agreements. FuboTV CEO, David Gandler, said the decision was precipitated by the “challenging macroeconomic environment,” which impacts “our ability to reach our longer-term profitability goals.”
The Jets are represented by attorneys from Foley & Lardner, who called the FuboTV’s decision “a blatant act of bad faith.”
In a letter to Fubo Gaming, the attorneys wrote that “the Jets were shocked to learn late last week, from public reporting, of an additional default by the filing for dissolution of Fubo Gaming in Delaware and its ceasing of all operations, both at the direction of the board of directors of its parent company, FuboTV.”
Further, the attorneys claimed the Jets have “fully performed under the agreement, including giving substantial marketing and advertising benefits, a suite and tickets to Jets home games, and incurring significant expense to build, staff, and operate the Fubo Sportsbook Lounge at MetLife Stadium, among other things.”
