Administrators of the Dixie Youth baseball league in a state far east of California are a tad upset with PepsiCo, the soft drink company. The situation involves contract disputes between the two organizations. The peculiar thing about the disagreement is that the central focus is not really what’s contained in the contract, but whether it even exists.
The baseball league and Pepsi supposedly signed a deal in 2012. Pepsi agreed to purchase scoreboards for the league, and in turn, the baseball league agreed to buy its products. At least, that’s what Pepsi says, except no one can actually seem to find the written agreement the company claims exists.
In the meantime, the baseball league decided Coke was offering a better deal. What happened next has left league administrators, parents, players and spectators very disappointed. Pepsi took the control panels out of the scoreboards so they became inoperable. League spokesmen say this is unfair to the children, whose fans and families can no longer keep track of what’s going on in their games.
Coke said it will purchase new scoreboards for the league. Dixie Youth baseball asked Pepsi if they could keep using the scoreboards just until the new ones come in. Pepsi said if the league would not purchase its products (as per the apparently missing written agreement) then it can no longer use the scoreboards, and that’s that. When contract disputes like this one arise in California, those involved often enlist the help of business and commercial law attorneys to seek swift and agreeable solutions.
Source: ABC, “Contract disagreement leaves baseball league without scoreboard“, Janel Forte, Accessed on May 24, 2017
