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Fans of the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are flocking to the San Francisco Bay Area for Sunday's Super Bowl. Many will spend lots of money buying game merchandise, but not all of the souvenirs are officially licensed, and that's caught the NFL's attention. So they are cracking down on counterfeit jerseys, hats and T-shirts, as Steve Futterman reports.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: In downtown San Francisco this week, Larry Patterson was about to spend a ton of money on Super Bowl stuff.
LARRY PATTERSON: Jerseys, helmets, anything I can memorabilia-wise, I'll go ahead and buy it.
FUTTERMAN: And what's your budget?
PATTERSON: Ooh whee (laughter). My budget's 1,500.
FUTTERMAN: Fifteen-hundred?
PATTERSON: Yes, 1,500 - we came all the way here...
FUTTERMAN: The items he bought were all licensed NFL souvenirs, manufactured by companies that sign contracts with the league. The NFL is in a constant battle to stop the sale of knockoffs, items that look identical but are not approved.
BRIAN MCCARTHY: At one time, people thought this was a victimless crime, but that's not the case at all. These people aren't - they're con artists, and they end up with your money.
FUTTERMAN: Brian McCarthy is an NFL spokesman. Merchandise and licensing are a big part of the league's moneymaking formula. The NFL doesn't give exact figures, but a 2022 report by the Sports Business Journal estimated annual revenue is about $3 billion. This week in San Francisco, federal officials displayed some of the unlicensed items they have seized.
IVAN ARVELO: So, you got everything here from jerseys to hats to memorabilia to, you know, the Super Bowl trophy.
FUTTERMAN: There's actually a Super Bowl trophy?
ARVELO: Oh, yeah, we got multiple counterfeit Super Bowl trophies.
FUTTERMAN: Ivan Arvelo is the director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, a part of the Department of Homeland Security. For more than a decade, it's worked with the NFL to seize illegal items. In the past, the focus was on mom-and-pop ventures, people selling items at street corners or flea markets. These days, it's more sophisticated - items being shipped into the U.S. and often sold online. One thing hasn't changed, says Arvelo, the unlicensed items are much cheaper.
ARVELO: And I get it. It's hard to turn down a good deal, right? But I think there's a larger issue at hand. These organizations are looking to steal your personal information.
FUTTERMAN: Investigators often track down fake merchandise at the nation's busiest ports, but it's impossible to inspect every container. So the agents use algorithms to isolate shipments that appear suspicious. Eric Batt is with U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He focuses on apparel, footwear and textiles.
ERIC BATT: We do have a targeting system, if you will, with the use of AI, the use of computers, but there's nothing replacing the officer experience. You see the same things coming in over and over again. You start to build your library, if you will, of what something should look like.
FUTTERMAN: Of course, this isn't just an NFL problem. There are knockoffs of high-end purses, sunglasses and watches. The lure is always the same. Again, here's shopper Larry Patterson.
But if you could find all these items for 50% off, and they looked and seemed exactly the same...
PATTERSON: I wouldn't say anything. I'd be happy to take it at the price discount. Yes (laughter).
FUTTERMAN: Even if they were unlicensed?
PATTERSON: Yes, even if they were unlicensed.
FUTTERMAN: In the last year, officials have seized nearly $40 million in counterfeit NFL material. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in San Francisco.
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