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NFL Ups Anticounterfeiting Efforts image

NFL Ups Anticounterfeiting Efforts

NFL Consumer Products is expanding its battle against counterfeit products available through Amazon Marketplace to hardgoods after having “greatly reduced” the amount of fake jerseys and other apparel sold through its third-party retailers, Chris Halpin, NFL SVP for licensing and consumer products, told us at the NFL Consumer Products Summit this week in Jacksonville, FL.

The hardgoods effort will likely begin with cellphone cases and expand from there since the category requires “more technology” to detect counterfeits, says Halpin. The increased crackdown comes a year after the NFL implemented a new policy requiring anyone selling licensed goods on Amazon to list the licensee supplying the items and have a “turnoff switch” that could be deployed if counterfeit products were detected.

The NFL’s policy also was implemented as Amazon deployed teams to encourage brands to register with the site. Once registered, Amazon is requiring third-party sellers prove they have a brand’s permission to sell online. The effort began as an experiment with Nike and others in 2015 and is expected to greatly expand this year both in North American and international markets. Amazon has more than two million independent dealers, who sell half the goods purchased on the site, Amazon has said.

“We have made a lot of progress” in combatting counterfeit goods and “Amazon has been very good,” says Halpin.  “It is still a huge issue but we have made discernable progress and the amount of counterfeit jerseys has been greatly reduced.  But we still have a lot to do and need to keep the progress we have had because counterfeiters, especially in China, are getting more creative.”

For example, a fake jersey purchased by NFL officials last year came with a fake anti-counterfeiting hologram. But Operation Team Player, which was developed by National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center to crackdown on the illegal importation of counterfeit sports apparel and merchandise, seized 260,000 counterfeit items in 2016 through Homeland Security Investigations worth an estimated $20 million, the NFL said.  The league also took legal action against 10,000 counterfeit sites as it monitored including eBay, Alibaba, Etsy and others in addition to Amazon.

“It is a big problem and I am glad the leagues, including the NFL, are coming on board,” said one apparel licensee. “But sometimes it is hard to say whether it is improving, because it is like whack-a-mole where one company is shut down and another emerges.  There are companies that sell jerseys that look real and may have a real image, but there is difference in the detail.”

Yet the NFL has “made a lot of progress” during the past 18 months in cracking down on counterfeits and previously “you had seen a lot more counterfeiting of jerseys and I am not sure that is the case today,” says ‘47’s Dave Zeleznick.

In an effort to limit its exposure to counterfeits, ’47 is moving to localize production of its headwear and apparel and will apply graphics and designs specific to individual markets, says Zaleznick. The strategy, which will be fully implemented by 2018, will use a network of contract manufacturers in local markets to supply goods on anas needed basis such as when a team wins a championship, says Zaleznick.

“For the NFL, you want to tackle your big categories [such as] apparel, bedding, and toys,… but it does filter down,” says Trends International’s Paul Beck.

Meanwhile, the NFL is continuing its push to expand its women’s apparel business. At licensee Majestic, it’s grown to account for 30% of annual NFL-related sales, up from the “low teens” several years ago, says Majestic’s Ed Pfeiffer. But that is against women accounting for 40-45% of NFL fans, says Pfeiffer.

To expand the market, Icer Brands uses “trendier” fabrics and markets body suits as opposed to the basic designs used in NFL men’s apparel, says Icer’s Joseph Saff. Little Earth Productions introduced an NFL-themed kimono at the summit, along with a “military” jacket that will retail for $80.

“Our designers for women’s apparel have to be in the market and seeing what the trends are,” says Pfeiffer. “Men’s is a little bit more basic, but women are looking for something a little more on trend.”

 

Contacts:

Icer Brands, Joseph Saff, Sales Mgr., 212-221-4700 x113, jsaff@icerbrands.com

Little Earth Productions, Nicholas Harper, Sales Mgr., 412-471-0909 x199, nickh@littleearth.com

Majestic, Ed Pfeiffer, Regional Sales Mgr., 267-880-0601, ed_pfeiffer@vfc.com

NFL Properties, Chris Halpin, SVP Licensing and Consumer Products, 212-450-2000

Trends International, Paul Beck, Licensing Mgr., 317-388-4031, pbeck@trendsinternational.com

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