The jury reached an interesting verdict in Odell Beckham’s lawsuit against Nike finding no one at fault and awarding zero compensation. Still, the NFL player and the footwear giant are both pleased, especially Nike which boasted about not having to pay a monetary award.
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Odell Beckham Jr. has spent his summer relaxing and enjoying his new role on the Miami Dolphins after a short stint on the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL star has already won a ring and proven that even in the later stages of his career, he can still be a team asset.
As he continues playing, it’s hard to miss the colorful array of customized Nike gloves and cleats he wears, but they’ve unfortunately been at the center of his recent legal issues with the brand.
Back in 2022, we reported that the NFL player sued Nike for alleged breach of contract, reformation, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, alleging that they withheld royalties owed to him under terms of a sponsorship deal. The brand countersued alleging that the customizations Beckham made to Nike-branded gloves were outside the terms of his contract and that he violated the contract by disclosing confidential deal terms. Nike sought damages of between $7 and $15 million while Odell asked for $862,000 in damages.
Fast forward to the present day, and according to The Portland Business Journal, Odell’s lawyer Chad Colton alleged in court that Nike had an undisclosed issue with Odell’s customizations and said they created “glove penalties to use as leverage” during negotiations.
“This is nothing but an effort to retaliate against Beckham for standing up for himself,” and to make an example out of him for other athletes, Colton said according to the Business Journal.
By contrast, Nike’s lawyer, Maurice Suh of Gibson Dunn, shared photos of Beckham’s glove customizations over the years showing that some of the designs even covered Nike’s iconic swoosh logo to prove that Odell violated his contract, reports the Business Journal. Suh said that the footballer was well aware of the issue and told several times about it, but the “violations continued to happen.”
“Mr. Beckham fundamentally believes the rules don’t apply to him,” said the lawyer.
A jury ruled Nike didn’t breach the contract with the wide receiver by enforcing its “glove penalties” and also ruled that Beckham’s gloves didn’t breach his side of the contract.
On Thursday, Odell took to Instagram to address the outcome.
“JUST DO……RIGHT @nike . I wanna take this moment to thank God first and foremost thank you Heavenly Father. I wanna thank my team for every hour they have spent preparing on this case. I wanna thank the jury for simply doing what’s right in a world full of wrong… my message to whoever needs this is, STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN! JUSTICE WAS SERVED!!!”
Despite Odell calling it a victory, Nike issued a shady statement letting the world know they didn’t pay him a dime in the outcome.
“With this verdict, all of Mr. Beckham’s claims have been decided against him without any monetary award,” they told Complex. “The decision confirmed that Nike complied with its commitments. Nike is grateful to the jury and the Court for their careful attention to this case.”