CHICAGO (AP) — Muhammad Ali Enterprises is suing the Fox Broadcasting Company for more than $30 million for what it says was Fox’s unauthorized use of the famed boxer’s image in a video that ran just before its broadcast of the 2017 Super Bowl.
The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Chicago comes two years after a federal jury awarded $8.9 million to basketball legend Michael Jordan in his suit against the owners of a defunct supermarket chain for using his identity in an advertisement without permission. Last year, soccer great Pele filed a similar $30 million lawsuit against the electronics company Samsung.
The suit contends that Fox used Ali’s “name, image and likeness as the centerpiece” of a video for its Super Bowl broadcast.
Ali died last year.
Fox declined to comment.