What kind of world is a world in which the Phillie Phanatic doesn't belong to the Philadelphia Phillies? While that's not a question we ever thought we'd have to ask, it's being reported that the Phillies are fighting the mascot's creators who are trying to make the Phanatic a "free agent."
What??? Yes, several news outlets are saying that "in a federal lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New York, the Phillies accused Harrison/Erickson Inc., the creators and designers of the Phanatic, of threatening to withdraw from their 1984 agreement to let the Phillies use the mascot “forever."
The suit says the designers have "threatened to obtain an injunction against the Phillies’ use of the Phanatic” and “make the Phanatic a free agent,” selling the rights to him to another sports team if the Phillies do not renegotiate with the mascot’s creators and pay them “millions of dollars.”
The lawsuit says that the creator's claims are "legally baseless," and that selling the Phanatic to a different team would violate the trademark rights.
While the Phillies initially paid $215,000 for the rights for the Phanatic in 1984, they say they've spent millions in advertising and marketing him, to make him how well-known he is today.
Wow! I mean our Phanatic is definitely one of the most (if not THE most) popular sports mascots, but there's no doubt that he belongs to this team! I can't see him actually leaving us anytime soon!