Former boxer Mike Tyson faces £1.5m lawsuit over gambling sponsorship dispute
A gambling operator accuses Tyson and his company of having backed out of a sponsorship agreement due to a more lucrative arrangement with Netflix.
Key takeaways:
- Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and his company Tyrannic LLC are being sued for £1.5m in London’s High Court by Rabona operator Medier Ltd over an alleged breach of a sponsorship agreement signed in January 2024.
- Medier claims Tyson withdrew from promotional commitments for Rabona after securing a reportedly more lucrative £15m fight agreement with Jake Paul, making the sponsorship deal less attractive to fulfil.
- Tyson and Tyrannic deny breaching the contract, arguing that Rabona attempted to involve him in promotional activities, including the proposed “Talking Pigeons” livestream, that went beyond the scope of what was originally agreed.
UK.- The former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson and his wife are facing a £1.5m lawsuit in London’s High Court over a dispute around a sponsorship agreement with online gaming brand Rabona. The claim has been brought by Rabona operator Medier Ltd, which alleges that Tyson, 60, and his company Tyrannic LLC, controlled by his wife Lakiha Spicer, breached a contract relating to an allegedly frustrated sponsorship deal signed in January 2024.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tyson was reportedly expected to attend a public relations event at a major gambling industry conference in Amsterdam between July 16 and 19 2024. However, according to court filings, Tyson is accused of withdrawing from the agreement after entering a more lucrative deal to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in an exhibition bout reportedly worth £15m. Tyson later lost the contest to Paul in a fight streamed globally on Netflix in November 2024.
Representing Medier, barrister Ali Reza Sinai said that Tyson and Tyrannic became concerned that this participation may have conflicted with the terms of the former boxer’s agreement with Netflix, which allegedly restricted non-fight sponsorship activity in the run-up to the contest. As such, they subsequently distanced themselves from the Rabona campaign.
Sinai told the court: “Thus the defendants simply lost interest in the service agreement once the more rewarding exhibition fight was firmly agreed. The performance of the service agreement became inconvenient for Tyrannic and Mr Tyson.”
Mr Justice Richards heard that the agreement provided for a staged payment structure worth £1.5m in total, payable to Tyrannic. Tyson is said to have received almost £145,000 before the relationship between the parties broke down.
Tyson and Tyrannic deny breaching the agreement. They argue that Medier sought to involve the former world champion in promotional activities that extended beyond the scope of the original contract.
This part of the dispute revolves around a planned livestream production called “Talking Pigeons”. This would allegedly have featured Tyson delivering scripted dialogue alongside four presenters, including one dressed as a pigeon, while discussing stories from his childhood. The proposed event also included segments in which Tyson would teach the presenters boxing techniques using a mannequin bearing the face of former rival Evander Holyfield, before taking part in casino-themed activities on Rabona’s website.
Tyson’s association with pigeons has long been a well-known aspect of his personal story. In his autobiography, he described how caring for racing pigeons helped him cope with a difficult upbringing in New York. He has also spoken publicly about an incident in which the killing of one of his pigeons led to a physical confrontation during his youth.
Tyson’s legal team maintains that the activities proposed for the livestream went far beyond what had been agreed. Barrister Amanda Hadkiss argued that the contract clearly specified the type of promotional content Tyson was required to produce.
She said: “It was agreed that the activities Mr Tyson would be filmed whilst carrying out were ‘playing in casino games’ such as ‘slots poker roulette etc’. It was agreed that Mr Tyson would alternatively be filmed playing in ‘other games and events’ but so long as these other games and events were ‘included in Rabona’s website’ and so long as they had been ‘approved’.”
Hadkiss argued that the talking pigeons concept was “both of a very different nature to and exceeded the scope of the performance” required by the contract agreed.
The hearing continues.
