EUGENE, Ore. — A company owned by two-time Olympian Nick Symmonds and his coach have filed a federal antitrust lawsuit in Eugene against USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, alleges that USOC and USATF are illegally restricting sponsor advertising at the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials, which are scheduled to run July 1-10 at Eugene’s Hayward Field.
Symmonds, a former Springfield resident, and coach Sam Lapray own Run Gum, which sells caffeinated chewing gum. Symmonds said in a news release that Run Gum wants to sponsor athletes at the Trials in exchange for logo exposure on athletes’ competition attire but won’t be allowed to because it’s not an approved sponsor.
“We are simply looking to level the playing field,” Symmonds said. “It is completely illogical and unfair to allow a very small sector of the market to have total control over the advertising space on an athlete’s competition uniform.”
The lawsuit alleges that the USATF and USOC along with “various other unnamed co-conspirators” — including apparel and equipment manufacturers who are sponsoring athletes at the Trials — have agreed to exclude other businesses from sponsoring athletes in return for advertising exposure.
As the suit mentions, USATF has six official sponsors: Nike, BMW, Hershey, Visa, Rosetta Stone and the University of Phoenix.
Through its lawsuit, Run Gum seeks to have the sponsor-advertising rules overturned. The company also is seeking unspecified compensation for damages it may sustain as a result of the alleged violations of antitrust law.
The company is represented by Portland attorney Timothy Landis as well as by law firm Hausfeld LLP, which represented basketball player Ed O’Bannon in a successful antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA.
USATF spokeswoman Jill Geer declined to discuss the Run Gum suit, saying in an emailed statement that the national governing body for track and field has “only been made aware of the lawsuit by the media and have not been served. In any circumstance, we do not comment on pending litigation.”
USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Symmonds, 32, represented the United States in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and is a six-time national champion in the 800 meters. Despite winning the 800 at last summer’s USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field, Symmonds was left off the roster for the world track and field championships because of his refusal to sign a contract requiring him to wear only Nike or unbranded apparel during the event.
Symmonds is sponsored by Brooks Running, which is based in Seattle. Symmonds now lives in Seattle.
Fellow Olympians Kara Goucher and Brianne Theisen-Eaton took to Twitter on Wednesday to express support for Symmonds and Run Gum.
