Trial date set for Wayne Sells’ lawsuit against CPS for football field naming rights
Ryan Shiner
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Trial dates have been scheduled for next year in the case over the name of Rock Bridge High School’s football field.
Wayne Sells refiled a lawsuit in October 2024 against Columbia Public Schools over the naming rights to the field. Sells previously filed a lawsuit against the school district in 2021, claiming CPS had a legal contract with him after he gave Rock Bridge High School a $100,000 donation.
Court filings from Tuesday indicate a pretrial conference was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, 2026; while the jury trial is set for 9 a.m. May 12, 2026.
The Columbia Board of Education unanimously voted to rename its athletics field in 2020 after Sells went on Facebook and criticized professional athletes who were protesting during the national anthem before games by kneeling. Sells had suggested renaming the field Veterans Memorial Field.
Sells claims that he has naming rights to the field as a part of an agreement he made with the then-athletic director and that renaming it is a breach of contract. The district previously argued that there was never a formal written agreement.