Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre is being sued for allegedly conspiring with business partners to persuade an investment company to put $16 million into a failed social media experiment, the Blast reports.
The platform, dubbed “Sqor,” was launched in 2011 as a way for athletes to monetize their celebrity status. The former Green Bay Packers quarterback promoted the site with his business partner a few years ago. They claim Sqor was made to give athletes “intelligence tools” so they could earn money through sponsorships, advertising, e-commerce, and crowdfunding.
Callais Capital Management (CCM) argues the company made “negligent and fraudulent misrepresentations” about the company’s projected success. In the lawsuit, the firm says Sqor executives lied about raising up to $25 million through a round of equity capital and inflated 2018 income as $44 million.
Additionally, CCM reportedly said Sqor “materially misrepresented” its fanbase as 325 million users. That would have put it above Skype and Snapchat and right in line with Twitter’s 328 million monthly active trolls and fake bot accounts.
That’s not all. CCM called out the former Green Bay quarterback for allowing execs to conflate his social following with fans of Sqor. It also claims execs at the company lied about securing deals with the Lakers, Bulls, and the entire NFL. Big-shot athletes like Conor McGregor, Rob Gronkowski, Odell Beckham Jr., and Allen Iverson were said to be bringing in millions of impressions on the site.
How CCM didn’t spot discrepancies between Sqor’s ridiculous claims and its actual platform is hard to grasp. The company nonetheless claims it “conducted all reasonable due diligence” regarding its investments but fraud made it impossible for them to discover the truth.
CCM is suing Favre and other executives for its $16.75 million investment plus damages. Sqor appears to have been shut down. The app is no longer available on the iOS App Store.
We have reached out to Favre’s agent and will update this article if we hear back.