A screenshot from a 2024 Drive Coffee video calls it the “official coffee of the Denver Broncos.” (YouTube)
Drive Coffee, a Centennial roaster that was once the official coffee of the Denver Broncos but is now out of business, has agreed to pay the team $350,000 to make a lawsuit go away.
Drive was sued Aug. 8 and accused of not paying $1.5 million in sponsorship fees for 2023 and 2024 while continuing to call itself the official coffee of the Broncos on its packaging and social media pages. Eleven days later, the two companies told the court of their settlement.
Drive will pay $350,000 plus attorney fees under the deal, which was signed by CEO Alex Grappo and Broncos’ general counsel Tim Aragon and approved by a judge Aug. 21.
Drive Coffee and its attorney have not answered requests to discuss the Broncos case.
It is the third court judgment against Drive this year. The entity has also been ordered to pay $200,000 to a lender and $50,000 to an employee who sued for back pay. Meanwhile, two other former employees are seeking back pay in ongoing cases. Drive denies they are owed money.
Broncos-branded Drive Coffee containers. (YouTube)
One of them, former manager of strategic partnerships Andrew Berg, claims Grappo “diverted company resources from payroll to extravagant expenses,” like the Broncos sponsorship. Drive denies doing anything wrong in Berg’s case and says a statute of limitations may bar him from suing. In a response it filed Aug. 25, the company also denies being in business.
“When Drive was conducting business, its business was selling coffee,” the company wrote.
Drive Coffee no longer has a website or online store and is no longer available on Amazon. That leaves only an Instagram page, where fans have been seeking answers for months.
“I just want to buy a large can of Jim,” one man said of a medium roast. “You guys dead?”
“Keep an eye out here,” the company wrote back Aug. 21. “Your wish will soon be granted.”
A screenshot from a 2024 Drive Coffee video calls it the “official coffee of the Denver Broncos.” (YouTube)
Drive Coffee, a Centennial roaster that was once the official coffee of the Denver Broncos but is now out of business, has agreed to pay the team $350,000 to make a lawsuit go away.
Drive was sued Aug. 8 and accused of not paying $1.5 million in sponsorship fees for 2023 and 2024 while continuing to call itself the official coffee of the Broncos on its packaging and social media pages. Eleven days later, the two companies told the court of their settlement.
Drive will pay $350,000 plus attorney fees under the deal, which was signed by CEO Alex Grappo and Broncos’ general counsel Tim Aragon and approved by a judge Aug. 21.
Drive Coffee and its attorney have not answered requests to discuss the Broncos case.
It is the third court judgment against Drive this year. The entity has also been ordered to pay $200,000 to a lender and $50,000 to an employee who sued for back pay. Meanwhile, two other former employees are seeking back pay in ongoing cases. Drive denies they are owed money.
Broncos-branded Drive Coffee containers. (YouTube)
One of them, former manager of strategic partnerships Andrew Berg, claims Grappo “diverted company resources from payroll to extravagant expenses,” like the Broncos sponsorship. Drive denies doing anything wrong in Berg’s case and says a statute of limitations may bar him from suing. In a response it filed Aug. 25, the company also denies being in business.
“When Drive was conducting business, its business was selling coffee,” the company wrote.
Drive Coffee no longer has a website or online store and is no longer available on Amazon. That leaves only an Instagram page, where fans have been seeking answers for months.
“I just want to buy a large can of Jim,” one man said of a medium roast. “You guys dead?”
“Keep an eye out here,” the company wrote back Aug. 21. “Your wish will soon be granted.”
