MLB Union Drops NIL Lawsuit Against Pirates, Sheetz

The business arm of the MLB players’ union has dropped its lawsuit against the parent company of the Pittsburgh Pirates and convenience store chain Sheetz.

In August, MLB Players, Inc. filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh against Sheetz and the Pirates claiming the chain used its jersey patch deal with the team to post images of players on social media far above the limit established in the $100,000-per-year sponsorship agreement. The suit said Sheetz “wrongfully exploited” Pirates players Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, Andrew McCutchen, Nick Gonzales, Carmen Mlodzinski, and Connor Joe by overusing their name, image, and likeness without union approval.

“These widely viewed images serve to increase the commercial appeal of Sheetz’s stores and products generally, and to misleadingly suggest a direct endorsement by the players themselves of Sheetz,” read the complaint.

The next day, the two sides reached a verbal agreement, and a Pirates spokesperson told Front Office Sports at the time that the team anticipated the complaint would be withdrawn.

MLB Players, Inc. dropped the lawsuit Dec. 23.

Between the verbal agreement in mid-August and the dismissal in December, the clerk’s office requested a few pieces of information from the players’ association, and the judge issued a routine standing order in November describing the procedure for handling motions. It’s unclear why MLB Players, Inc. took so long to drop the case or how much money it settled for.

Representatives for the MLBPA, Sheetz, and the Pirates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.