Major League Baseball Players’ Union Takes Pirates and Sheetz to Court

Photo courtesy of MLB

Major League Baseball Players Inc. (MLBPI) is suing the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and convenience store chain Sheetz for damages for what it calls “commercial misappropriation of the players’ names, images and likenesses” in connection with a multi-year partnership for the retailer to display its logo on the sleeves of Pirates players’ home and away jerseys, according to court documents.

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association Inc., the players’ union, approved the use of sponsor patches on jerseys beginning in the 2023 season as part of a new collective bargaining agreement. In February, Tulsa, Oklahoma-based QuikTrip became the official jersey patch partner of the Kansas City Royals.

Sheetz’s new patch debuted on the field on June 21. Pirates officials, outfielder Bryan Reynolds, pitcher Jared Jones and Pirates players joined Sheetz executives on the field as part of the announcement. The sponsorship deal also includes in-stadium signage, in-game activations and social and digital content.

While the Pirates and other teams have the right to license space on players’ uniforms to a corporate sponsor like Sheetz, neither the team nor the retailer “has the right, without a license from MLBPI, to use the names, images or likenesses of three or more players in a calendar year in any marketing campaign,” the documents say.

An Instagram post cited in court documents includes images of eight players and uniforms with the Sheetz patch and features players Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz. Another Instagram post included images of five players, Andrew McCutcheon, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Carmen Mlodzinski and Connor Joe. The plaintiffs posted similar posts on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

“Defendants unlawfully exploited those players’ names, images, and other identifying information as part of defendants’ joint promotion, across multiple social media platforms,” the sponsorship agreement states. “Knowing they did not have the required license, the Pirates and Sheetz used videos and images of various individual players in violation of MLBPI’s group rights, in an effort to increase the consumer appeal of Sheetz’s stores, brand, and products and to increase the commercial value of the Patch sponsorship agreement. … This use of the players’ name, image, and likeness rights without MLBPI’s written consent violates Pennsylvania’s statutory and common law ‘publicity rights,’” the plaintiffs allege.

As the licensee, MLBPI issued “repeated warnings” to the Pirates and Sheetz not to use players in unauthorized promotional campaigns, the plaintiffs allege.

MLBPI is seeking an accounting of the defendants’ allegedly illegal sales and profits, compensatory and punitive damages, and to prevent further “intentional misappropriation.”

Sheetz did not respond to a CSP request for comments on the matter.

In response to a request from the Post-Gazette, the Pirates’ senior vice president of communications said: “This complaint came as a surprise to us, as we have been engaged in active discussions regarding this matter. We have since reached a verbal agreement and expect this complaint to be withdrawn.”

• Sheetz is ranked No. 13 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience store chains by store count.

Founded in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz currently operates more than 740 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.

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