The Alliance of American Football is being sued by a man claiming the start-up pro football spring league was his idea. Robert Vanech, CFO and Head of Revenue at Trebel Music, claims in the suit that he is entitled to 50 percent of the AAF's ownership and that many of the ideas put into place by AAF co-founder Bill Polian were his.
The details of the suit can be found here, but are summed up more succinctly by a series of tweets by Darren Rovell.
JUST IN: Charlie Ebersol and the new football league, the AAF, have been sued by Robert Vanech, who said it was his idea to come up with league and was entitled to 50% ownership.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 25, 2019
Vanech says agreement with Ebersol was ignored, seeks $$ and wants his name part of its history.
In lawsuit against AAF and Charlie Ebersol, Robert Vanech -- who believed he had a "handshake agreement with Ebersol" said much of what he founded about the league was later credited to partner Bill Polian.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 25, 2019
Exhibit in lawsuit shows that AAF originally planned to use XFL name & purchase assets from WWE & NBC for $50M.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 25, 2019
AAF met with Vince McMahon and he decided to start league on his own.
In response to the suit, the AAF issued the following statement:
"Mr. Vanech's claim is without merit. There was never any agreement, oral or written, between Mr. Vanech and Mr. Ebersol relating to The Alliance. We remain focused solely on our historic, inaugural season when each weekend over 400 players get an opportunity to showcase their talents and fulfill their dreams of playing professional football."
Last Tuesday, the AAF announced a $250 million investment from Carolina Hurricanes owner/CEO Tom Dundon to keep the company funded for the foreseeable future. Dundon will be the chair of the league's Board of Directors. The investment was announced amid a report that the Alliance was low on cash and unable to make payroll. An AAF spokesperson told CBS Sports that the issue was caused by switching payroll services and was unrelated to the investment made by Dundon.
