Wayne Sells refiles lawsuit against Columbia Public Schools for football field naming rights
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The battle over the name of Rock Bridge High School’s football field continues.
Wayne Sells has refiled a lawsuit against Columbia Public Schools over the naming rights to the field. Sells previously filed a lawsuit against the school district in 2021, claiming CPS had a legal contract with him after he gave Rock Bridge High School a $100,000 donation.
That donation was used for improvements to Rock Bridge athletic facilities, which led to the school naming the field "Wayne Sells Family Activity Field" in 2006.
That first lawsuit was thrown out on Oct. 25, 2023, after it was determined that the money was withdrawn from a company owned by Sells, not from his personal bank account, court documents in previous reporting say. The company’s name was LSS Financial Services LLC.
The new lawsuit filed on Oct. 22 includes Sells and LSS Financial Services as plaintiffs. The 2021 lawsuit only listed Sells as the plaintiff. The petition alleges a breach of contract with both plaintiffs along with a breach of conditional gift and unjust enrichment.
CPS was served the new lawsuit on Tuesday, according to court information and an email from district spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark. The school district cannot comment on litigation, Baumstark wrote.
The Columbia Board of Education unanimously voted to rename its athletics field in 2020 after Wayne Sells went on Facebook and criticized professional athletes who were protesting during the national anthem before games by kneeling. Sells had suggested renaming the field Veterans Memorial Field.
Sells claims that he has naming rights to the field as a part of an agreement he made with the then-athletic director and that renaming it is a breach of contract. The district previously argued that there was never a formal written agreement.
