NHL Teams With Reebok, Canadiens To Eliminate Counterfeit Merchandise

The NHL is teaming with the Canadiens and Reebok “in a bid to eliminate counterfeit hockey jerseys and other gear,” according to the CP. A league spokesperson said that the program “will start with the Canadiens and may expand to the other 29 NHL clubs later.” Beginning with the Canadiens' regular-season home opener on Oct. 13, there will be “ads on radio and other media,” and a “quiz on counterfeits will run on the Bell Centre scoreboard.” Montreal is “considered a hub of counterfeit hockey merchandise” (CP, 9/29). In Montreal, Dave Stubbs reports former NHLer Guy Carbonneau “is the face of the program.” Carbonneau on Thursday said, "Travel a little and you see fake purses, shoes and watches. It was just a matter of time before hockey jerseys became a big, illegal business." Canadiens COO Kevin Gilmore and the NHL noted that the Canadiens are the “hardest hit by counterfeiters.” The club three years ago “sold about 9,000 jerseys at its Bell Centre and Brossard Habs Zone stores and related kiosks, which doesn't include product moved by authorized retailers and online at NHL.com.” That number “dropped by a third a year later, and held steady last season.” Gilmore said, "It's not uncommon that half the jerseys we see in the Bell Centre stands are counterfeit." He added that “a recent poll told the team that 70 per cent of those wearing the fakes didn't know they were sporting knock-offs.” NHL Enterprises Group VP/Legal & Business Affairs Tom Prochnow said that since the '08-09 season, “seizure of counterfeit NHL jerseys has quadrupled with no end in sight.” Already this year, “3,200 fakes valued at nearly $1 million have been confiscated” (Montreal GAZETTE, 9/30).