McIlroy and Nike face Oakley lawsuit

Apparel-maker Oakley has sued Rory McIlroy and Nike, insisting the world No 1 and the equipment giant breached his existing contract with Oakley when he recently signed a new deal with Nike estimated to be worth $250m.

The American network ESPN.com revealed last night that the California-based clothing and sunglasses firm filed a lawsuit in federal court in Santa Ana (Cal.) on Monday claiming that when they tried to use their right of first refusal to match the Nike offer, McIlroy and his agent Conor Ridge of Horizon Sports Mangement ignored their counteroffer, thereby breaching the Oakley-McIroy contract.

According to the ESPN story: “The key to any resolution of the dispute is in a string emails between Oakley and agent Ridge that began back in September. Late on a Saturday evening (Sept. 29) as negotiations for a renewal of the Oakley deal seemed to be falling apart, a sports marketing executive at Oakley named Pat McIlvain sent an email to agent Ridge that said, ‘Understood. We are out of the mix. No contract for 2013. Pat Mac.’”