Jaguars sponsor sues to have name removed from game due to impending clown invasion
The Jacksonville Jaguars' final game of the season is on track to be, well, a clown show. One sponsor would rather not be involved.
RoofClaim.com, a roofing company located in Georgia with business in Florida, has sued to avoid being emphasized as the primary sponsor of Sunday's finale against the Indianapolis Colts, according to Mark Long of the Associated Press.
Why would a company go to such measures to not receive the lucrative exposure of an NFL sponsorship it paid for? The answer is things have become so bad in Jacksonville that fans are beginning to revolt against team leadership, with calls for team owner Shad Khan to fire general manager Trent Baalke.
Those fans have landed on clowns as the avatar of their ire. A litany of fans has already changed its social media profile pictures to a clown emoji, featuring Khan's trademark mustache, and now there are apparently plans for scores of fans to show up on Sunday in full clown regalia.
It's going to be a scene that could very well sum up how far the 2-14 Jaguars have fallen, so you can understand why the words "brought to you by RoofClaim.com" might not be in the best interest of the company.
RoofClaim.com reportedly signed $2.5 million deal in August
According to the AP, RoofClaim signed a four-year deal with the Jaguars with annual payments starting at $600,000 and increasing by $18,000 each year. That totals up to the cool sum of $2.51 million.
As part of the deal, the company is guaranteed a single-game spotlight in each of the four seasons, something the company is now trying to get out of.
The deal reportedly includes a provision allowing RoofClaim to terminate the agreement should Urban Meyer be fired as Jaguars head coach. That condition was met earlier than anyone could have reasonably imagined, but unfortunately, the termination can only be used at the end of what would be Meyer's third season in 2023.
Clearly, RoofClaim tried to be ready for things to go bad, but not "coach fired after 13 games amid claims he kicked a player and called his assistant coaches losers" bad. According to the lawsuit, RoofClaim attempted to end its Jaguars affiliation the day Meyer was fired and the Jaguars refused.
The company is now reportedly demanding a jury trial for its suit and is seeking damages in excess of $30,000, with temporary and permanent injunctive relief from the Jaguars using the RoofClaim brand.
From the AP:
The team “utterly failed to provide the sponsorship benefits outlined in the agreement,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that the Jags breached the deal “by exposing RoofClaim.com’s brand to a toxic marketing environment that will cause irreparable harm.”
A Jaguars spokesman responded to the lawsuit via the AP, calling it “baseless and without merit” and saying the Jaguars "will exhaustively protect our interests in this matter at every turn.”