Baseball Says Internet Firm Owes It $20M

MANHATTAN (CN) - Major League Baseball claims an Asian Internet sports broadcaster owes it $20.5 million for a licensing agreement.

MLB Advanced Media sued Allied Pacific Sports Baseball Network (APSN) in Federal Court.

"APSN describes itself as 'Asia's largest provider of live and on-demand sports over the Internet, with a broadcast territory covering 28 Asian countries,'" according to the complaint.

Major League Baseball says it entered a licensing deal with ASPN on Jan. 1, 2010. On Aug. 9 this year, MLB says, it informed ASPN that it had defaulted by not paying the licensing fees, but Allied Pacific failed to pay up. MLB terminated the agreement on Nov. 16 and says ASPN owes it the remainder of the license fee.

MLB seeks $20.5 million in damages for breach of contract.

It is represented by Richard Mandel of Cowan Liebowitz & Latman.

MLB Advanced Media is the interactive media company of Major League Baseball and manages and operates the league's official website, mlb.com, and each of the official Major League Baseball Club websites.

ASPN delivers a variety of sports, including European and Brazilian soccer, golf, tennis, hockey, and motor sports.

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