Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes Face New Legal Challenge Over Steakhouse Business Woes

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, celebrated teammates from the Kansas City Chiefs, are facing a lawsuit alongside their business partners. The issue arises from the naming of their new steakhouse, 1587 Prime, and its associated apparel line.

A company based in Boston, known as 1587 Sneakers, has initiated legal action in a federal court in New York. They claim that Mahomes, Kelce, and their partners at Noble 33 have infringed on their use of the number ‘1587,’ which the sneaker brand has been using to market its products since 2023, two years prior to the steakhouse’s opening.

Despite the sneaker company not applying for a trademark for ‘1587’ clothing until late last year, that application is still being processed according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. In contrast, the steakhouse registered for a trademark in the bar and restaurant sector in December 2023.

Although there is a slight variation in the names, the legal complaint against the owners of 1587 Prime argues that this difference is insignificant.

“The defendants’ addition of the term ‘PRIME’ fails to distinguish their marks from the plaintiff’s in any legally significant manner,” states the lawsuit.

Travis Kelce, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, and Taylor Swift pictured together at 1587 Prime 

The sneaker brand uses 1587 as a nod to the first year Asians reached North America. Pictured above: One of 1587 Sneakers shoes (left) and the Boston-based company’s logo (right)

The Daily Mail has sought comment from Kelce and Mahomes’ representatives, as well as Noble 33 spokespeople and the company’s attorneys. Kelce’s publicist declined comment to ESPN.

The restaurant’s name is derived from Mahomes and Kelce’s jersey numbers, 15 and 87. The sneaker brand, which is aimed at Asian Americans, included 1587 as nod to the year Asians are believed to have reached North America.

Speaking with ESPN, trademark attorney Josh Gerben of Gerben IP shared some skepticism over the lawsuit.

‘I think it’s a tough case for the sneaker company,’ Gerben said. ‘Trademarks can coexist in different industries… Given that the marks are essentially identical here, is a restaurant and a shoe company too close? Are consumers likely to be confused in thinking they are affiliated with one another?’

According to the lawsuit, that’s exactly what has occurred.

‘Scores of consumers have contacted Plaintiff with the mistaken belief that it is affiliated or endorsed the Defendants’ use of its senior mark,’ read the complaint. ‘Defendants’ activities are likely to and in fact already have caused harm due to their use of a confusingly similar name to Plaintiff’s trademark. By causing a likelihood of confusion, mistake, and deception, Defendants have and are inflicting irreparable harm on Plaintiff.’

The sneaker company is asking for 1587 Prime to change its name and to stop selling apparel with 1587 emblazed on it. The lawsuit also demands unspecified damages for 1587 Sneakers.

Kelce and Mahomes opened up their steakhouse in Kansas City back in September 

The restaurant opened in September to mixed reviews. Food critic Liz Cook slammed 1587 Prime in an article for the Defector, writing that it was overpriced.

She credited the restaurant for its popularity with diners in Kansas City, which is inevitably helped by the Taylor Swift effect. Across social media, Swifties have broadcast the efforts they’ve gone to in snagging a table, desperately hoping they will catch a glimpse of Kelce’s fiancée.

Cook also praised how the restaurant appears, with a marble staircase and servers dressed smartly. But that was about all she could offer that was positive.

‘There are at least two employees whose main job appears to be setting things on fire,’ Cook wrote about the menu and the famous cocktail on offer called ‘The Alchemy’, created in tribute to Swift.

‘The drink tasted like a Cosmo someone had strained through a French Vanilla Yankee Candle,’ she added.

She goes on to describe her steaks being thin or overcooked (and arriving without a steak knife), ‘cop-outs’ on local touches that are meant to support local Kansas City businesses and ‘ChatGPT-grade luxury tropes’.

And on top of that, she added, you have to pay through the nose for it.

Her most expensive steak cost $78, she paid $15 for ‘three small ramekins of ketchup, one of which was pure uncut Heinz’ and her Alchemy cocktail came in at $22.

Photos exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail show Kelce and Mahomes laughing with restaurant staff at a company meeting ahead of the September opening

The steakhouse has faced other issues as well, including allegations of misconduct against Noble 33 co-founders Tosh Berman and Michael Tanha. 

The pair allegedly ambushed their partner and chief legal officer Matthew Syken with his termination from their hospitality firm, The Madera Group (TMG), in what he claims was retaliation for exposing misconduct.

Syken claimed in lawsuits filed in Nevada and California that his sudden firing on opening night was part of a vicious retaliation after he exposed Berman and Tanha’s alleged plot to siphon millions of dollars from a gift card scheme. Syken claimed he was off work dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis at that time. 

Kelce and Mahomes have not been named in Syken’s lawsuit, and are not accused of any wrongdoing. 

The chief legal officer wrote in legal filings that Noble33 partnered with a gift card company called inKind, in a deal that paid Noble ‘millions of dollars in advance payments in exchange for the sale of store credits redeemable at Toca Madera restaurants’ – their culinary chain.

Syken, Berman and Tanha’s partnership has included popular fast-casual restaurants Tocaya Organica and Tender Greens, as well as upscale LA restaurant Casa Madera and Mexican steakhouse chain Toca Madera.

Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes partnered with restaurant group Noble 33 last year to launch the glitzy Kansas City steakhouse 1587 Prime, touting it as a celebrity hotspot

Swift and Kelce pose for a photo with fans at 1587 Prime after the Chiefs’ win in October 2025

Berman (right) and Tanha (left) have been accused of misconduct by their former counsel

Syken claimed Berman and Tanha improperly poured those millions from inKind into their own private accounts.

‘Although presented as a marketing and financing program, these arrangements allowed Berman and Tanha to generate significant up-front cash that was later distributed to themselves,’ Syken wrote in a motion filed in a Clark County, Nevada court where part of their legal battle has been waged.

Syken alleged in his court filings that when he found out and confronted the pair, Berman and Tanha tried to ‘extort’ him by threatening his legal license. They also claimed they withheld his pay, fired him, and canceled his medical insurance during his cancer recovery.

An attorney representing Noble 33 previously denied the allegations.  

‘These are ridiculous claims, asserted by a single small investor,’ attorney Brian Timmons of Quinn Emanuel told Complex. 

Timmons went ton to characterize the suit as retaliatory. 

Mahomes and Kelce are well into their offseason after missing the playoffs in 2025. The quarterback is working to return from knee surgery, while the veteran tight end is rumored to be leaning towards a return to the Chiefs. 

Kelce is a free agent, so he would need a new contract, which could prove complicated given the Chiefs’ salary cap concerns heading into the 2026 season.