MLBPA Sues Pirates, Sheetz Over Alleged Unauthorized Player NIL Use

The MLB Players Association filed a lawsuit against the Pirates and gas station chain Sheetz over allegations the team and gas station chain “wrongfully exploited” the likeness of players without the approval of the union. 

The federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, plus an injunction to prevent the Pirates and Sheetz from using any more images of players in promotional materials. MLB Players, Inc., the business arm of the MLBPA, is the lone plaintiff. WTAE-TV’s Andrew Stockey was the first to report the lawsuit. 

The MLBPA complaint’s core issue is how often Sheetz and the Pirates used player names, images, and likenesses on social media. The complaint states that the MLBPA and MLB “agreed that the fee for any sponsor of the Pirates’ uniform patch to license the group name, image, and likeness rights for promotions was set at $100,000 annually.”

Under terms of the patch deal, Sheetz is able to use each player’s image only three times annually. According to the complaint, Sheetz and the Pirates used player images 24 times on social media just on a single day, June 21. Many of the promotional images remain on the social media accounts of Sheetz and the Pirates, according to the lawsuit. 

“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,” lawyers for the MLBPA wrote in the complaint. An MLBPA spokesperson declined to comment further for this story. 

“We were surprised by this complaint as we have been engaged in active discussions on this matter,” Pirates spokesperson Brian Warecki said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “We have since reached a verbal agreement and expect this complaint to be withdrawn.” Sheetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit states the parties “did not reach an agreement to license the MLBPI’s group rights to defendants for the Sheetz promotional campaign. Nevertheless, defendants have not taken any steps to remove the offending posts from their social media platforms.”

The Pirates announced Sheetz as their new jersey sleeve patch sponsor in June. The Padres were the first MLB team to put sleeve patches on regular-season uniforms after the league approved their use in 2023.