Construction Company Suing Ron Burkle Over Sacramento MLS Deal Gone Sour
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - There is new fallout over Sacramento's collapsed Major League Soccer stadium deal.
The company hired to build the stadium, is now suing former lead investor, billionaire Ron Burkle for fraud and breach of contract.
The lawsuit was filed by sports stadium construction company ICON Venue Group.
The civil complaint alleges Burkle and his partners formed a shell company called "soccer stadium company, llc," or "SSC," then "failed to capitalize that entity with enough funds to proceed with the development, and pay all of the designers, engineers, contractors, and managers, including ICON."
The lawsuit alleges Burkle and his partners told ICON "finalizing a deal with major league soccer was a mere formality."
Meanwhile, the lawsuit states "…the defendants knew that SSC was not fully capitalized, that contracts were secretly never signed…" and "…that defendants would rely on the absence of a contract, or alternatively the lack of funds of SSC to deny liability and refuse to pay ICON…
Unpaid Invoices totaling $2.3 million dollars are part of the court filing that counters the public presentation of a Sacramento success story.
In 2019 MLS commissioner Don Garber flew into Sacramento to award the city and its lead MLS investor Burkle an expansion franchise.
The touted downtown stadium plan had been a symbol for more downtown Sacramento resurgence, and a Railyards revival.
Now the deal is dead and left in a legal dispute.
This lawsuit was just filed in Sacramento County Superior Court Friday.
CBS13 reached out to both sides, neither responded to requests for comment.