Editor’s Note: Awful Announcing is honored to republish this feature from The Frontier. The Frontier is a nonprofit newsroom that produces fearless journalism with impact in Oklahoma. Read more at www.readfrontier.org.
The financial backers of the failed Oklahoma sports media startup Sellout Crowd claim the website’s founders owe them more than $600,000 in unpaid principal and interest payments, according to a lawsuit filed in Cleveland County court this week.
Big Dog Media, LLC is suing Mike Koehler, who launched the site, co-founder Kris Murray, writer Berry Tramel and editor Mike Sherman, who all signed agreements in 2023 guaranteeing a $1.5-million line of credit with a 12% interest rate.
Tramel told The Frontier earlier this year he and Sherman were not aware they had signed loan documents.
The lawsuit alleges Big Dog Media, whose members include Former University of Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops, the estate of deceased country music star Toby Keith, and Keith’s business partner Hunter Miller, gave Sellout Crowd a $1.5-million line of credit.
Sellout Crowd borrowed $721,500 on the line of credit but only repaid $249,719.22, the lawsuit claims.
Sellout Crowd launched in 2023 to great fanfare, hiring some of the top sports writers in the state to cover the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. But the site went through a round of layoffs in early 2024 and ultimately closed in May. The website went offline in July.
The lawsuit includes loan guaranty agreements signed by Tramel, Sherman, Koehler and Murray, making them personally liable for the debt. The loan agreements allow Big Dog Media to collect all or part of the outstanding debt from each individual. The agreements were signed Sept. 5, 2023.
Tramel told The Frontier earlier this year that Koehler said the site’s investors wanted Tramel and Sherman to have an ownership stake in the company. Tramel said he did not realize he was signing his name as a guarantor to the loan.
Tramel told The Frontier on Friday that personal bankruptcy is an option, but that he would follow his lawyer’s advice as the case continued. Sherman, Koehler and Murray did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did Big Dog Media’s lawyer, Armando Rosell.
This article first appeared on The Frontier and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.