Not 'what my client signed up for': Local company accuses Bucks of tanking as battle over marketing deal goes public
CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — With the start of the basketball preseason just days away, a local company is locked in a legal battle with the Bucks over a sponsorship deal.
The team claims they haven't been paid. But the company says the Bucks have not held up their end of the bargain.
The company wants out of its contract with the Bucks. And they're making a unique argument.
The company is Lesaffre Yeast Corporation — or L-Corp — which produces industry-leading Red Star Yeast in the Milwaukee area.
L-Corp and the Bucks started working together in 2020. A year and a half ago, in February 2025, they entered into a multiyear marketing contract for all home games and events.
L-Corp was to pay the Bucks about $330,000 over four seasons.
But the Bucks say multiple payments were missed, more than $10,000 was past due and more than $250,000 is still owed over the next three seasons of the agreement.
But L-Corp denies those claims, saying all prior invoices have been paid.
And L-Corp says the contract is now unenforceable because the Bucks didn't live up to their end of the deal.
A counterclaim filed by L-Corp says even when players were healthy last season, "the Milwaukee Bucks held that key personnel out of games in an effort to lose games on purpose."
An attorney for L-Corp told us, "That’s just not the package presented by the Bucks or what my client signed up for."
The counterclaim continued, saying, "the product being offered was not consistent with the product offered in prior years or contemplated by the Agreement."
According to the countersuit, "This resulted in the licensing membership plan’s value, from a customer usability standpoint, to be limited or nil."
Additionally, L-Corp claims the Bucks did not give them a 14-day notice of missed payments and that the Bucks' lawsuit damaged L-Corp's reputation.
L-Corp is asking the judge to throw out the Bucks' suit, void the last three years of the marketing contract and order the Bucks to pay L-Corp for damages and attorney's fees.
The next hearing date is set for Nov. 5.
We reached out to the attorney representing the Bucks in this case but have not yet heard back.
