A lawsuit over the naming rights at the Ballpark Commons in Franklin and the alleged failure to pay royalties to the foundation of former Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon and Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group has been settled, according to federal court records.
The lawsuit, filed by Michael DeGrave and Routine Baseball against ROC Ventures and Ballpark Commons developer Michael Zimmerman, was filed in August.
Routine alleged that ROC Ventures never finalized a naming rights agreement for the Franklin baseball stadium where the Milwaukee Milkmen play. The two sides had announced a 10-year agreement for naming rights in September 2018 and Routine’s logo and name were featured prominently at the stadium.
The lawsuit alleged that ROC Ventures had piled up more than $100,000 in unpaid merchandise invoices and infringed on trademarks by advertising a giveaway with “unlawfully obtained Bobbleheads.”
ROC Ventures filed a counterclaim in September, alleging DeGrave used his position as the owner and manager of an apparel company into “the take-over of Korked…,” a company Zimmerman owned that produces apparel as part of a relationship with Maddon.
Zimmerman allegedly found out in September that Korked had not paid Maddon’s Respect 90 Foundation for any “Maddonism product sales” since August 2018.
The CEO of Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group also reached out to Zimmerman after not receiving any licensing payments or reports from Korked for more than a year, according to the complaint.
The case was sent to magistrate judge for mediation in October.
In a hearing this week, the two sides said they had reached a settlement and would submit documents to dismiss the case by Jan. 15.
DeGrave and Zimmerman did not respond to requests for comment on the settlement.
