Counterfeit Huskers gear costs Nebraska athletics $1 million yearly

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 16:03 · Archive

Unlicensed sellers are offering counterfeit Nebraska athletic department merchandise online and on street corners, costing the university an estimated $1 million a year in lost royalty fees.

Unlicensed sellers are offering counterfeit Nebraska Huskers merchandise online and on street corners, costing the athletic department an estimated $1 million a year in lost royalty fees. Lonna Hendrichs, senior associate athletic director for licensing at Nebraska Athletics, said the practice amounts to trademark infringement that deprives the university of revenue.

Since 2021, the department has used a monitoring company called CounterFind to identify counterfeits online. The service has removed almost 15,000 counterfeit items from the internet. CounterFind assigns items an infringement probability score; shirts found near Memorial Stadium before games scored 95, indicating very high likelihood of being counterfeit.

Fans can verify they are buying licensed products by checking for a hologram on the item when it arrives and looking for the registered trademark symbol on the packaging. Counterfeit merchandise sold near the stadium bore neither marking. When questioned, one vendor admitted to keeping all profits from sales rather than paying royalties to the university.

Hendrichs said the department can only issue cease-and-desist letters to sellers, which have been ignored in the past. She cannot confiscate the products herself.

How it is being reported

• Counterfeit Huskers gear costs Nebraska athletics $1 million a year in royaltiesUnlicensed sellers are offering counterfeit Huskers logos online and on street corners.1011Now · 14 Oct, 12:36
• Counterfeit Huskers gear costs Nebraska athletics $1 million a year in royaltiesUnlicensed sellers are offering counterfeit Huskers logos online and on street corners.WOWT · 14 Oct, 12:36

In this story: Nebraska Athletics · Nebraska Huskers · Lonna Hendrichs · CounterFind · Lincoln · Memorial Stadium

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