The Ticket's parent company, former hosts Jake Kemp, Dan McDowell resolve legal dispute
Jake Kemp (L) and Dan McDowell (R) on a 2020 episode of Free4All.
DALLAS - The parent company of popular Dallas-Fort Worth sports talk station The Ticket has come to a mutual agreement with two of the station's former hosts, Jake Kemp and Dan McDowell to end a legal dispute between them.
The lawsuit, which has received national attention, concerned Kemp and McDowell's new membership-only podcast The Dumb Zone.
Kemp and McDowell, who previously hosted The Hang Zone from noon to 3 p.m. on The Ticket, started the podcast on the subscription-based podcasting service Patreon shortly after being unable to come to terms on a new contract with the radio station.
The radio company quickly issued a cease-and-desist letter and then filed a lawsuit when the podcasts continue.
Susquehanna Radio argued that the podcast violated the non-compete clause in Kemp and McDowell's contracts.
Ticket management said in court hearings that ratings for the Noon to 3 p.m. timeslot on the station dropped 45% in the month following Kemp and McDowell's departure, arguing that the podcast was targeting the station's listeners.
In court, lawyers for the hosts argued that McDowell's contract only specifically named terrestrial radio as part of the non-compete and Kemp's contract, which was signed later, was overly vague and attempted to restrict him from several different ventures that were not included as part of his employment as part of The Ticket.
A Washington Post article released about the situation noted that "in May, one of President Biden’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board published legal guidance finding that overly broad ‘noncompete’ agreements can violate federal labor law."
Legal analysts viewed the case as a potential precedent-setter that could have an impact on non-compete clauses across the country.
It never got that far. On Tuesday night, both sides announced they came to a mutual agreement and settled.
The Ticket made the announcement on X, with the ability to comment turned off, saying that both sides "appreciate one another's sincere efforts to resolve their differences so that everyone involved can move forward. The parties wish each other well."
Kemp read the same statement on an episode of his podcast with McDowell released Tuesday night.
The terms of the resolution have not been made public.