Phillies mount lawsuit after analytics firm allegedly tries selling data to rival teams

The Philadelphia Phillies, like the vast majority of MLB teams, are very analytical. Pretty much all modern teams use analytics in some way, with many having their own private companies to help guide them in that area. Now, they're suing the company they've used.

In 2021, the Phillies agreed to a deal with Zelus Analytics. At the time, it was an upstart and the Phillies liked what they got from them. The team also liked the relative exclusivity since it could only partner with one team per division.

The Phillies now believe that Zelus tried to sell to rival teams before renewing their contract this year with Philadelphia, so the two sides are heading to court. The Athletic reported on Thursday that the Phillies are attempting to get a temporary restraining order so that Zelus can't operate with other teams until this is resolved.

The Phillies have argued that the company allegedly selling aspects of the platform the team has used made "an unquantifiable competitive disadvantage in player evaluation, acquisition and strategic decision-making across MLB."

They also said it is actively "undermining the Phillies' ability to make baseball operations decisions based on proprietary analytics that were intended to be available to a strictly limited number of teams."

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Zelus Analytics responds to Phillies' lawsuit

The Phillies have launched a lawsuit against an analytics company they've used since 2021. They allege that Zelus Analytics is breaching their agreement by trying to aid rival NL East teams with parts of their platform.

The Phillies sued a data firm (Imagn)

Zelus' parent company responded in a statement via The Athletic:

“Teamworks Intelligence, formerly Zelus Analytics, is proud to offer analytics capabilities so differentiated, impactful, and innovative that the Phillies have attempted to block its rivals from gaining access. While we cannot comment on the specifics of the litigation, we are confident that Teamworks is acting in compliance with the agreement.

"We look forward to resolving this matter, and in the meantime, we will continue delivering world-class solutions that equip organizations to make decisions that help them excel on and off the field.”

The company did admit to trying to unbundle some items and sell them to other teams in a non-exclusive agreement, and the Phillies didn't take kindly to that. Zelus offered the Phillies a deal, but they ignored it because they prefer to keep exclusivity.