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Women’s Pro Baseball League investigation
The Women’s Pro Baseball League is less than a month into its first season and already has the sort of boardroom drama most leagues wait years to unlock. Board member and investor Mina Kim has gone to Delaware Chancery Court seeking corporate records she says could shed light on potential conflicts of interest and possible misuse of league money.
According to Front Office Sports, Kim says the WPBL has failed to fully comply with a request covering 19 categories of books and records despite her repeated attempts to get the information without litigation. The filing uses phrases like “mounting red flags,” which is not exactly what a brand-new sports league wants sitting next to its sponsorship deck.
The WPBL Is Fighting Over A $59,500 Payment And Missing Records
The most eye-catching issue involves roughly $59,500 transferred to Ankeiste Ltd., an entity the filing says is owned by WPBL CEO Keith Stein and his wife. Kim says the payment was initially described as reimbursement for startup expenses before later being recharacterized as a loan receivable, allegedly without board approval or formal loan documentation.
That does not mean anyone has proven money was stolen or improperly used. Kim’s argument is that she cannot fulfill her duties as a director without complete bank records, wire details, and signatory information needed to determine what actually happened, which is a fairly important distinction when words like “misappropriation” are floating around.
The filing also questions the league’s relationship with Dentons. Stein is an attorney at the firm, while another WPBL director, Andreas Kloppenborg, is a Dentons partner. Kim’s filing describes that arrangement as a conflict requiring more disclosure and seeks invoices, engagement documents, and communications tied to the firm’s work for the league.
Then there is a possible family connection. Stein’s wife’s maiden name is Prosterman, while another WPBL board member is Mark Prosterman (Kim says she has not received enough documentation to determine whether they are related by marriage or whether any such relationship was properly disclosed).
For a league with six board members, there are suddenly a lot of relationship charts required.
The League Says This Is A Personal Grievance
The WPBL strongly disputes Kim’s characterization. In a statement shared with the Associated Press, the league said it had provided complete information, accused Kim of escalating the matter because of a personal grievance and said the other five directors oppose her proceedings.
That leaves the Delaware court to decide whether the league has actually produced everything Kim is entitled to inspect, but the timing could hardly be more awkward.
The WPBL launched Aug. 1 with four teams playing its inaugural season at a neutral site in Springfield, Illinois. ESPN signed a deal to stream 37 games, including the postseason, while 11 regular-season games are also being carried by Scripps Sports Network.
That is legitimate infrastructure for a league trying to prove women’s professional baseball can become sustainable in the United States. It also means there are now real media partners, sponsors, investors, and fans with reasons to care about whether the people running the operation are all on the same page.
Fledgling sports leagues already have enough problems without adding corporate-record litigation to the standings page.
The WPBL is trying to build an entirely new professional sports property.
Less than four weeks into Year 1, one of its own directors is asking a judge to help her see the books.
Not exactly the first-season storyline anyone had penciled in.