MSL postpones season due to “financial risk…potential litigation” by Norton
Nick Rose, Oakville Rock 2019 (Photo: Dave Fryer)
In a somewhat unexpected move by Major Series Lacrosse, the league today announced that they would be postponing the start of their upcoming season due to fears of potential litigation by Joe Norton, whose ownership of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club has been called into question after the Ontario Lacrosse Association raised a number of concerns over the 2018 transfer of the team.
The league’s statement, signed by MSL Commissioner Doug Luey, in part reads:
It is with tremendous disappointment that Major Series Lacrosse must postpone the start of the 2022 season. The financial risk brought on by potential litigation is just too great to overcome by both our privately and community operated teams.
We will continue to work towards a resolution to bring our teams, players, officials and in particular our fans back to the floor as soon as the risk is minimized.
As reported by The Lax Mag last week, Norton, who in the fall of 2020 attempted to move the Excelsiors to Owen Sound, threatened legal action against MSL, the OLA and Glenn McClelland, president of the Excelsiors group the OLA deems to be the rightful owner of the Senior A squad.
In the legal letter sent to OLA President Greg Hummel, Luey and McClelland, it states:
By this letter, please be advised that if any party makes use of the Assets for any purpose, including for the purposes of fielding a lacrosse team, litigation will ensue.
More directly, if a MSL club in Brampton plays a game wearing Brampton Excelsior Lacrosse Club jerseys, we will issue a Statement of Claim, seeking significant financial damages and naming as defendants all those associated with the club (including Mr. McClelland personally), the league (who permitted or authorized the club to infringe Mr. Norton and MELT’s legal rights), and the OLA (as the governing body of the sport). These claims exist equally if players are being mis-led or misinformed in respect of which club currently owns their rights within MSL.
Further, we reserve our right to claim damages against any party who assists in diminishing the value of the Assets, including any broadcast partners who transmit images of the Assets suggesting that they are anything other than the lawful property of Mr. Norton and/or MELT.
Norton claims to have “certain inalienable legal rights in the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club”, not simply “Brampton Major Excelsiors Lacrosse Club” as was outlined in a signed Offer to Purchase from April of 2018. In addition to claiming ownership of the name “Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club”, the letter also lists the club’s logo and trademarks, the website BramptonExcelsiors.ca, all social media accounts, as well as the team’s players as being “assets” owned by Norton.
In that same Offer to Purchase, signed by Norton (the Purchaser) and former BELC (the Vendor) President Ziggy Musial, the document further defines what name and assets are and aren’t owned by Norton:
The Assets, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement shall only include intellectual property right associated with the operating name “Brampton Major Excelsiors Lacrosse” and for clarity shall not include any logos, marks, or other branding used by the Vendor in connection with its other lacrosse teams or leagues.
As included on the BELC website, a number of other teams utilize the Excelsiors name, logo and other branding, including the Junior A and B teams competing within the OLA.
In Norton’s legal letter last week, it additionally states that he retains the rights to “all players who are rostered to the Brampton Club” and further defines them as purchased assets. In a report published by The Owen Sound Sun Times earlier today, McClelland tells the paper, “We don’t have personal contracts…these players are carded and that’s governed by the OLA.
“If they go to an Owen Sound practice and Owen Sound is not sanctioned by the OLA, they’re practicing without insurance, with no protection at all.”
As written on the website BramptonExcelsiors.ca, another asset that Norton has demanded immediate transfer of:
The history of the Brampton Excelsiors is long and storied. They first started playing in 1871, organized by the second Master of Brampton High School George M. Lee. The story goes that he was inspired to name the team “Excelsiors” after the title of a poem by Henry W. Longfellow. In 1883, the team began formal Provincial league play and established the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club.
While the Offer to Purchase and Norton’s legal letter contradict specifics to some assets, Norton’s lawyers concluded last week’s letter by ensuring the OLA, MSL and McClelland’s Excelsiors were aware all of those items were ready for resale.
Canada’s other Senior A league, the Western Lacrosse Association, will start their season on Friday in New Westminster.
Also on TheLaxMag.com