‘I was robbed by MLB’

Exec out $80M: suit

A former executive at a Major League Baseball tech spinoff is calling foul.

Dinn Mann, who served as executive vice president of content at BAMTech, the streaming services providers spun off from MLB Advanced Media, claims he was cheated out of his small stake in the business — which is likely worth tens of millions of dollars.

Disney bought control of BAMTech last year for $2.6 billion. Mann, in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan state court, claims he was awarded a 2 percent stake in BAMTech during a June 2006 board meeting.

“Despite the fact that Mr. Mann is a 2 percent owner of BAMTech, he received no compensation when Disney recently paid approximately $2.6 billion over two transactions to purchase 75 percent of BAMTech,” the suit alleges.

“To make matters worse, Mr. Mann was fired without cause at the end of 2017, and was asked to sign a separation agreement that could result in the waiver of his rights and compensation as an equity owner in BAMTech,” it claims.

The suit didn’t say whether the agreement was signed.

Mann was awarded the equity stake to keep him from fleeing to IMG, which was heavily recruiting him at the time, the suit claims. BAMTech Chief Executive Bob Bowman promised to go to bat for Mann — and that resulted in the equity award, the suit claims.

Bowman then e-mailed Mann, writing, “[Y]ou are about to become f u rich,” the suit claims.

Mann, who said he spent more than 17 years of his career transforming the company “from a fledgling startup into a multibillion dollar media juggernaut,” was never compensated.

During his career, Mann said he centralized digital rights and identified strategic relationships that brought BAM beyond baseball and into Major League Soccer, US Figure Skating and other sports.

Mann said his ownership stake is currently worth $80 million, but he’s only been offered $2 million since he was pushed out of the company at the end of 2017.

As part of his separation agreement, Mann was told “without any coherent explanation” from BAMTech, that he is not actually an owner of 2 percent of the company.

Dinn is suing MLB Advanced Media and BAMTech for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, estoppel, unjust enrichment, and fraud.