Dave Greene, who this week announced he and a partner are in the process of trying to purchase embattled ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ sports-talk radio station KFNS, is being sued over alleged actions with another media endeavor in which he’s involved.
Beasley Media Group filed a lawsuit this week in federal district court alleging that Greene and his Sports Hub STL operation committed trademark infringement associated with using the Sports Hub name, which it says it has been utilized by WBZ — an FM station in Boston it owns and is “better known as 98.5 The Sports Hub.â€
Sports Hub STL launched in February with Greene as a co-owner and was touted as being the first media outlet in the market to offer a significant amount of video sports content to be delivered strictly digitally. It operates from Kirkwood in the facilities of KFNS (590 AM).
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The suit, filed in the Eastern District Court of Missouri, says that “The Sports Hub†name has been used by WBZ “since at least August 2009†and was registered with the U.S. patent and trademark office in 2020. The filing also accuses the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ operation of copying other business aspects employed by the Boston station, of being “intentionally similar†to that one “and offers nearly identical services, but for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area sports teams. Defendants also created a logo that imitates†that of WBZ and “launched a website†with a “similarly confusing logo and design.â€
The suit also says that Beasley previously asked Sports Hub STL to stop its “unlawful activities†but has “refused to comply.â€
It also says the company’s Boston content has been streamed by more than 8,100 unique devices in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ market over the past year, and between 50,000 and 55,000 of its podcasts were downloaded in this area.
“Defendants created this knock-off entity to take advantage of the goodwill and success of The Sports Hub brand, which Beasley Media built up through significant time, labor and expense, and to reap the economic benefits therefrom or to deceive customers and/or advertisers into believing Sports Hub STL was sponsored or in some way affiliated with†the Boston station.
The suit adds that the defendants’ “unlawful conduct has already caused and has the potential to cause tremendous damage to Beasley Media. Beasley Media seeks injunctive relief as well as appropriate monetary damages against Defendants.â€
Green on Thursday told the Post-Dispatch: “A Boston sports radio station is suing us because it thinks its listeners will be confused and tune into our digital sports network in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ instead because we have a somewhat similar name. I think that’s silly. However, I’ve sent the complaint to my lawyers, and they are reviewing it.â€
Beasley, which is asking for a jury trial, did not list a specific monetary amount it is seeking.
In today’s 10 AM “Ten Hochman†video, Ben Hochman discusses the Frozen Four matchups in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ this weekend. Plus a happy birthday shoutout to Thomas Saggese! And as always, Hochman picks a random Cards card out of the hat!
