Hockey Canada Fighting For Olympic Jerseys To Protect Sales
Hockey Canada has a C$10M interest in "fighting to keep" its logo on the jerseys of the Canada Olympic and Paralympic teams for the 2010 Vancouver Games, as Hockey Canada President Bob Nicholson said that the figure represents the "annual sales figure for sweaters bearing" the logo, according to James Christie of the GLOBE & MAIL. Nicholson: "I'm prepared to go forward to the [IOC] and ask for the right for our teams to wear it, without the support of the Canadian Olympic Committee [COC]. ... I don't think it's right that Canada should be the only (hockey) country affected by this rule. Other countries don't sell many jerseys, but we do, and it pays for a lot of our programs." Nicholson said that Hockey Canada "won't back down and has recruited [IIHF President] Rene Fasel to help make his case to the IOC." But Christie notes the COC has "warned Hockey Canada that the IOC is cracking down on the use of federation marks that make money from the high-profile Olympics," and COC CEO Chris Rudge last week said that the COC "won't back any request for an exception on Hockey Canada's part." Rudge: "If they create another sweater and use it for marketing, they'd have to negotiate with VANOC regarding the licensing rights, but that's not an impediment. We'll talk with VANOC for them." Rudge added, "They can sell two sweaters and make more money." Meanwhile, Christie notes the "tempest over the hockey logo has a parallel" with the Beijing Games, as the Brazil and Argentina soccer teams "were told by the IOC they had to change their strip after they played their opening games in the national federation jerseys" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/19).
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