Skechers Sues Adidas, Claiming College Bribery Scheme Damaged Its Brand

A new layer to the NCAA basketball scandal

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Skechers has filed a lawsuit against Adidas, claiming the brand used a “deliberate, deceptive and illegal campaign” to elevate the Adidas image, which in turn has hurt the Skechers brand, according to the document.

The lawsuit—filed Wednesday in the United States District Court, Central District of California, Western Division by law firm O’Melveny & Myers—comes nearly one year after the U.S. Justice Department charged two Adidas marketing executives of bribing six high school athletes. Sketchers, a competitor, alleges that executives made “improper payments of between $40,000 and $150,000” to each of the athletes so they’d attend universities with Adidas-sponsored basketball programs. The

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