Phillies sue analytics companies for allegedly planning to work with NL East rivals

The Phillies filed a complaint in a federal district court in Pennsylvania on Friday. The complaint alleges that Zelus Analytics, a sports analytics company, and its owner, Teamworks Innovations, reneged on a deal by planning to sell certain models and metrics to other MLB teams, including NL East rivals. The Phils say they negotiated a contract with Zelus in 2022 that provided them with exclusive access to the "Titan Intelligence Platform" within the NL East.

© Nathan Ray Seebeck | 2024 Feb 25

The club is demanding a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the companies from sharing Titan with any other NL East teams. The measures would also block Zelus/Teamworks from sharing the platform with more than one MLB team in any division.

The Phils maintain that they negotiated their exclusive license with Zelus (acquired last year by Teamworks) to gain a competitive advantage over other teams. Yahoo Sports reports that the team says Titan "informs Phillies’ decision-makers about a wide range of baseball operation decisions, including for 'player evaluation, prospective assessment, trade analysis, roster construction, asset valuation and on-field strategy.'" The Fightins paid over $1.75 million for Zelus' services through 2024 and committed several hundred thousand dollars more for the 2025 season.

But when the Phillies exercised a contractual option for this year, the analytics companies allegedly attempted to "alter the scope of the exclusivity provisions," and proposed that they could sell Titan components to additional teams, including teams in the NL East.

The club argues that it paid a premium for exclusivity, and that it will suffer irreparable harm if the analytics tools are shared with competitors.

Teamworks and Zelus will now have an opportunity to answer the complaint.

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