Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Ass'n v. Corrigan Sports Enters., Inc.

694 F.Supp.3d 625

The INTERCOLLEGIATE WOMEN'S LACROSSE COACHES ASSOCIATION (IWLCA), Plaintiff, v. CORRIGAN SPORTS ENTERPRISES, INC., and Richard Lee Corrigan, Jr., in his individual and official capacities, Defendants.

1:20-CV-425

United States District Court, M.D. North Carolina

Signed September 26, 2023

Robert C. Ekstrand, Stefanie Anne Sparks, Ekstrand & Ekstrand, LLP, Durham, NC, Thomas Vanderbloemen, Vanderbloemen Law Firm, P.A., Greenville, SC, for Plaintiff.

Andrew R. Shores, Carmelle F. Alipio, Robert Van Arnam, Williams Mullen, Raleigh, NC, David P. Corrigan, Melissa Y. York, Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman, Glen Allen, VA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

THOMAS D. SCHROEDER, District Judge.

This is a dispute over the unwinding of a relationship between the parties related to sponsorship of high school lacrosse tournaments nationwide following the impact of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In June 2020, Plaintiff Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, Inc. ("IWLCA") sued its former business partner, Defendant Corrigan Sports Enterprises, Inc. ("CSE"), and its President, Defendant Richard Lee Corrigan, Jr. ("Corrigan") (collectively "Defendants"), asserting various claims under the Lanham Act and state law. (Doc. 15 ¶¶ 62-142.) Defendants have filed several counterclaims alleging breach of contract and various state law tort claims (Doc. 66 countercls. ¶¶ 102-152). Now before the court are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment on several remaining claims (Docs. 110, 112), Defendants' motions to strike filings related to IWCLA's motion for summary judgment (Docs. 142, 151), various motions to seal (Docs. 115, 118, 134), and a joint motion for leave to file briefs in support of the motions to seal (Doc. 131).

For the reasons set forth below, IWLCA's motion for summary judgment (Doc. 112) is granted in part and denied in part; Defendants' motion for summary judgment (Doc. 110) is denied; IWLCA's motion to seal (Doc. 115) is granted in part and denied in part; IWLCA's motion to seal (Doc. 134) is denied; Defendants' motion to seal (Doc. 118) is denied; the parties' joint motion for leave to file briefs in support of the motions to seal (Doc. 131) is granted; and Defendants' motions to strike (Doc. 142; Doc. 151) are granted in part in that the court will disregard the declarations and uncited exhibits at issue and denied with respect to the attorney's fee request.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

The court sets out the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving parties in the cross-motions for summary judgment. See Desmond v. PNGI Charles Town Gaming, L.L.C., 630 F.3d 351, 354 (4th Cir. 2011) ("When cross-motions for summary judgment are before a court, the court examines each motion separately, employing the familiar standard under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.").

IWLCA is a non-profit corporation whose membership comprises women's college lacrosse coaches within the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA") and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics ("NAIA"). (Doc. 15 ¶ 1; Doc. 66 countercls. ¶ 24.) Since 2006, IWLCA has sponsored, in various places and at various times of year, tournaments for women's high school club lacrosse teams. (Doc. 15 ¶¶ 1, 7.) Most of IWLCA's tournaments cater to female student-athletes who are eligible, or soon to be eligible, for recruiting by NCAA and NAIA lacrosse programs and who want the opportunity to showcase their skills before IWLCA's member coaches. (Id.) Pertinent here, IWLCA has sponsored — and continues to sponsor — six tournaments, each of which is associated with a specific alleged trademark: the Champions Cup, the New England Cup, the Midwest Cup, the Capital Cup, the Presidents Cup, and Debut (collectively, "The Recruiting Tournament Series"). (See Doc. 15 ¶ 7; Doc. 66 countercls. ¶ 98.) Each year, hundreds of club lacrosse teams comprising thousands of student athletes from across the country attend these tournaments, largely because of the exposure to IWLCA's member coaches. For at least the last ten years or so, IWLCA has selected a third-party company to manage, or "host," the Recruiting Tournament Series. (Doc. 15 ¶ 7.)

Defendant CSE is an event management company that, among other things, promotes and operates sporting events, including lacrosse tournaments, across the country. (Doc. 66 countercls. ¶¶ 19-21.) As of 2017, CSE boasted twenty-eight full-time employees and owned most of the equipment necessary to host large sporting events, including lacrosse tournaments. (Doc. 15-2 at 3.)

1. Historical Relationship

The parties' relationship dates back to 2009, when IWLCA's then-Executive Director, Gothard Lane first contacted CSE about hosting the Recruiting Tournament Series in partnership with IWLCA. (Doc. 27-2 ¶ 6.) Shortly thereafter, CSE submitted to IWLCA a "revenue and expense-sharing partnership proposal" whereby CSE would organize and host the Presidents Cup in 2010 and 2011 (with an option for 2012) and the Capital Cup in 2011, 2012, and 2013. (See id. ¶ 8.) In May 2010, IWLCA formally accepted the proposal, and the parties later executed the agreement as planned. (See id. at 9.) In 2012, CSE hosted the 2012 Presidents Cup.

In late 2013, IWLCA and CSE agreed to expand the scope of their partnership. To that end, in November 2013, CSE and IWLCA executed a contract ("the 2013 contract") which, among other things, memorialized the terms for "the organization, promotion, and hosting" of several of the Recruiting Tournament Series tournaments, including, as relevant here, the Champions Cup from 2013 to 2015; the Capital Cup from 2013 to 2016; the Western Cup from 2013 to 2015; and the Presidents Cup from 2013 to 2015. (Doc. 66-2.)

Under the 2013 contract, CSE's responsibilities included: organizing, processing, and executing the registration of all teams; advertising and marketing the tournaments using the IWLCA logo; creating and maintaining a website for the tournaments; and hosting and administering the tournaments, including securing event locations and equipment, staffing officials, researching insurance, facilitating sponsorships and vendors, collecting fees, paying tournament expenses, and accounting for all revenues and expenses for each tournament. (See Doc. 66-2 at 2.) IWLCA, for its part, agreed to promote the tournaments to college coaches, to facilitate the establishment of sponsorships for and vendors at the tournaments, to timely communicate with CSE, and to grant CSE the exclusive right to organize and host the tournaments. (See id. at 3-4.) The contract provided in its recitals that "this Agreement reserves to the IWLCA the right ... to make all final decisions regarding the Tournaments." (Id. at 1.) Under a heading titled "Cancellation of a Tournament" the contract further provided in part:

Should inclement weather, an Act of God, or war, or some other condition exist that poses substantial risk to the safety and well being of Tournament participants and attendees, the IWLCA and CSE shall decide together to cancel a Tournament ....

(Id. at 4.)

In April 2014, CSE and IWLCA executed an addendum to the 2013 contract ("the 2014 addendum") that extended the terms of the 2013 contract in two ways: first, it provided that CSE would also host the 2016 Champions Cup, Capital Cup, Western Cup, and Presidents Cup; and second, it stated that CSE would now also host the New England Cup in 2014, 2015, and 2016. (Doc. 66-3.) All other terms of the 2013 contract were also extended through 2016. (Doc. 66-3.)

Three years later, in April 2017, the parties executed a second addendum ("the 2017 addendum") that extended the terms of the 2013 contract once more: under its terms, CSE would now host the New England Cup, Champions Cup, Midwest Cup, Capital Cup, and Presidents Cup for 2017 and 2018. (Doc. 66-4.) All other terms of the 2013 contract were again extended through 2018. (Id.)

Around the same time, however, IWLCA was growing dissatisfied with certain aspects of CSE's performance in managing the tournaments. (See Doc. 111-5 at 65-67.) As a consequence, on February 6, 2017, IWLCA published a "Request for Proposals" ("RFP") seeking bids from event management companies, including CSE, to host the 2018-2020 Recruiting Tournament Series. (See Doc. 15-1.) Soon thereafter, CSE submitted a "response" to the RFP, outlining its bid. (See Doc. 15-2.) Several months later, the IWLCA Board of Directors decided to accept CSE's proposal, thereby agreeing to partner with CSE again for the 2018-2020 Recruiting Tournament Series. (Doc. 111-2 ¶ 5.) Notably, however, IWLCA and CSE did not formalize this agreement with a contract, nor did they formally extend the 2013 contract with any further addendum. (See Doc. 111-2 ¶ 6-7; Doc. 15 ¶ 11; Doc. 66 countercls. ¶¶ 41-43, 54.) They continued to do business together, and CSE hosted the Recruiting Tournament Series in both 2018 and 2019. (Doc. 15 ¶ 13; Doc. 66 ¶ 13.)¹

At all relevant times throughout their business relationship, the parties' pecking order was clearly established: IWLCA controlled and sponsored the tournaments, while CSE managed the details. For example, a 2012 announcement from CSE, ostensibly in response to concerns about who was in charge, announced — with the stated goal of clarifying confusion and providing "reassur[ance]" — "that "ALL (4) 'Official' IWLCA Tournaments in 2013 will be managed and produced by Corrigan Sports Enterprises (CSE), under the express written consent and direction of the IWLCA." (Doc. 116-29 at 2 (emphasis added).) CSE's statement also explained that "Corrigan Sports [was] honored to manage all four of the IWLCA's official tournaments." (Id. at 3 (emphasis added).) This hierarchy remained clearly established all the way through 2020 when CSE published a promotional document stating, immediately next to IWLCA's logo, that "CSE has been granted all five of the IWLCA sanctioned...