Ohio State and Chris Spielman have reached a settlement on his lawsuit regarding the university's use of athletes' names and likenesses, the two parties announced in a joint statement on Friday, according to reports by The Columbus Dispatch and The Lantern.
“Chris Spielman and The Ohio State University jointly share that they have resolved their differences concerning the use of Mr. Spielman’s name and image on banners that used to hang in Ohio Stadium,” the statement said, according to Jenn Smola of the Dispatch. “Both parties are pleased that the dispute has been resolved.”
Spielman filed a lawsuit against Ohio State in July 2017, alleging that the university and the marketing company IMG College used the images and likenesses of he and other former Ohio State football players without their permission and without compensating them for financial agreements with third parties, specifically including Honda and Nike. Spielman told Eleven Warriors at the time that he filed the lawsuit against Ohio State because he believed it was “the right thing to do.”
“We’re doing this for past players, former players, current players and future players,” Spielman said. “This is for the current players when they become former players, so that they can have a say in how their name and likeness is used, but they can still be effective representatives of the university and they still can be ambassadors of the university.”
According to the statement, Spielman will donate all money from the settlement to the William White Family Fund for ALS and the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research.
Neither Spielman nor Ohio State will comment further on the subject, according to The Lantern.
