More Than $4.8M In Fake Super Bowl Merchandise Has Already Been Seized

More than $4.8M of fake Super Bowl merchandise has been seized since Oct. 1, the NFL announced this morning at a press conference in conjunction with Indianapolis officials and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. That is a marked increase from a year earlier, when $3.72M was seized over the same period. More than 42,000 items have been seized. Those items include jerseys, caps and even air fresheners. The authorities also seized 307 website domain names. Those websites mimicked real websites, such as team sites. Most of the counterfeiting operations originate overseas, so the best the league and authorities can do is seize the merchandise and shut down the domain names. Counterfeit tickets have already been seized in New England and New York, and operations are under way in Indianapolis, said NFL VP/Legal Affairs Anastasia Danias. Hundreds of fans show up annually at the Super Bowl with counterfeit tickets. Those fans are offered the opportunity to purchase real tickets, Danias said.