Rye multimedia rights company takes on intercollegiate behemoth

Jerome Cifarelli claims that the company he used to work for is impeding his new company from making deals with intercollegiate sports teams.

His C10 Media LLC, of Rye, accused Learfield Communications LLC of violating federal antitrust laws, in a complaint filed Aug. 30 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.

Learfield, of Plano, Texas, is the dominant player in the business of managing advertising and promotions on signs and billboards, TV, radio, print and social media at college and university stadiums and arenas. The contracts are a major source of financing for intercollegiate sports programs.

ANC Sports Enterprises LLC, of Purchase, is a Learfield affiliate that specializes in LED signs. Cifarelli left the company last year and created C10 Media.

C10 claims that Learfield uses joint partnerships and noncomplete agreements to restrain competition, for instance, by gaining exclusive rights with companies that specialize in LED video displays.

Learfield also requires employees to sign noncompete agreements, according to the complaint. And it required C10 to sign a nondisclosure agreement on April 8 to bind the new company to Cifarelli’s employment agreement for two years.

C10 claims that Learfield is violating a 2020 federal court order.

The U.S. Department of Justice began investigating Learfield in 2017 when it proposed merging with IMG College, its main competitor. The $2 billion merger was completed in 2018, giving the combined company 83% of the market.

It controlled multimedia rights to more than 200 schools and athletic conferences, according to news accounts. The closest competitor, JMI Sports, controlled four schools.

In 2019, the Department of Justice accused Learfield in federal court in Washington, D.C. of anticompetitive conduct under federal antitrust law.

A final judgment issued in 2020 barred Learfield from colluding with any competitor on bids for multimedia contracts, communicating bid information to any competitor, agreeing with a competitor not to bid for a contract, or collaborating on joint bids. The judgment also barred Learfield from new or extended joint ventures without prior consent of the United States.

C10 argues that Learfield is using the noncompete agreement to stop it from bidding on contracts.

Learfield has violated the judgment, the complaint states, by not getting federal approval before asking C10 to sign the agreement, and by entering exclusive  partnerships with other companies.

C10 is demanding unspecified damages for lost profits and treble punitive damages.

Learfield did not respond to an email asking for its side of the story.

C10 is represented by Rye attorney Jonathan B. Nelson.