{"id":168697,"date":"2026-03-24T16:23:45","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=168697"},"modified":"2026-03-24T16:23:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:23:45","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8%f0%9f%94%a5-frank-thomas-sues-white-sox-retailers-over-jersey-sales-a-legal-battle-thats-shocking-fans-everywhere-%f0%9f%91%80%f0%9f%91%87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=168697","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udd25 Frank Thomas Sues White Sox, Retailers Over Jersey Sales \u2013 A Legal Battle That\u2019s Shocking Fans Everywhere! \ud83d\udc40\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-v-08416276=\"\">\n<div data-v-08416276=\"\">\n<p><strong>By <\/strong>Fox Chicago Digital Staff<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong data-v-08416276=\"\">Published<\/strong>\u00a0 March 24, 2026 10:05am CDT<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-f1afc186=\"\">\n<div data-v-f1afc186=\"\">\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\"><strong>CHICAGO<\/strong> &#8211; Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas has filed a lawsuit accusing several companies, including the Chicago White Sox, of using his name without permission to sell merchandise.<\/p>\n<p data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhs8u8E_hO18RGNDX03Z7CG1NMOdBdTw0MgQ&amp;s\" alt=\"White Sox legend Frank Thomas upset about being left off team's Black  History Month graphic - Chicago Sun-Times\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Thomas filed the lawsuit March 19 in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging violations of the Illinois Right of Publicity Act.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The complaint claimed companies including Nike, Fanatics and the White Sox sold &#8220;City Connect 2.0&#8221; jerseys featuring Thomas\u2019 name and his No. 35 beginning in April 2025 without his consent or compensation.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">According to the filing, the jerseys were marketed and sold with team branding while using Thomas\u2019 identity for commercial gain.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Thomas argued he has not had a contract with the companies allowing use of his name and likeness and has not received payment tied to the merchandise sales.<\/p>\n<div data-v-2f4c2a10=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">\n<div data-v-2f4c2a10=\"\">\n<p>Image from complaint filed in Circuit Court of Cook County<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;The complaint we filed alleges violations of the Illinois Right to Publicity Act. Companies may not profit from anyone\u2019s identity without their permission. We believe our filing speaks for itself,&#8221; William T. Gibbs, partner at Corboy &amp; Demetrio, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we don&#8217;t know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">It\u2019s unclear how much revenue the companies generated from the jerseys or how much Thomas is seeking in damages beyond the minimum threshold listed in the complaint.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">None of the defendants have publicly responded to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Thomas is seeking damages, including profits tied to the merchandise and other financial losses, along with a jury trial.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Tap here to read the full complaint.<\/p>\n<p data-v-4fbf7207=\"\"><b data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source:<\/b> The information in this report came from a criminal complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County and Corboy &amp; Demetrio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fox Chicago Digital Staff Published\u00a0 March 24, 2026 10:05am CDT CHICAGO &#8211; Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Thomas has filed a lawsuit accusing several companies, including&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":168698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8\ud83d\udd25 Frank Thomas Sues White Sox, Retailers Over Jersey Sales \u2013 A Legal Battle That\u2019s Shocking Fans Everywhere! 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