A "robust secondary market has emerged" around Grizzlies games for non-licensed T-shirts that people sell outside FedExForum "often with the tacit permission of the team itself," according to Scott Cacciola of the N.Y. TIMES. Around three hours before Game 4 of the Warriors-Grizzlies Western Conference Semifinals series, Grizzlies fan and Memphis-based business owner Joshua Smith had "piles of T-shirts ready to move." They included shirts featuring Fs Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol "recast as characters from the film 'Pulp Fiction'" and a "bright yellow T-shirt that read, 'Grizzlies vs. Everybody' in big block text." Smith also had some new merchandise on display: shirts of F Tony Allen "with the hashtag #1stTeamAllDefense." One of Memphicity Design Owner Alec Wilson's more popular T-shirts "is a map of Tennessee with Memphis highlighted as 'Grindville.'" Grizzlies VP/Marketing, Communications & Broadcast John Pugliese said, "When you have fans interacting with your brand -- not just purchasing tickets or watching you on TV, but truly taking their time and effort to create artwork, put it on a blank shirt and wear that T-shirt -- that type of engagement is what we’re all striving for." Cacciola reports while some designers "push the limits with their shirts, it seems to take a brazen act for the Grizzlies to raise objections -- blatantly lifting the team’s logo, for example, or using a copyrighted image." Wilson said that he "has heard from the Grizzlies only once ... after he splashed a photograph of Vince Carter on one of his designs." Wilson "usually draws the images himself to showcase his own creativity and to avoid nettlesome licensing issues." He said that this "was one instance when he did not, and an official from the Grizzlies called him within 10 minutes of his posting the design online." Cacciola notes the Grizzlies "sell their own shirts and apparel through league-licensed manufacturers like Adidas," but they "typically hand out Growl Towels to fans before playoff games instead of T-shirts, helping to create a small T-shirt vacuum that several of the city’s artists and designers have been eager to fill" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/15).
GETTING THE MEM-O: In Memphis, Kyle Veazey notes Growl Towels "are part of Memphis culture now," as the Grizzlies "have never had a playoff home game without a towel." Pugliese said that the team "graduated from 'Believe Memphis' -- though that will always adorn at least one towel per series ... to variations on team catchphrases such as 'We Don't Bluff.'" Then there "was last Saturday's hit towel, 'Memphis vs. Errbody.'" The Grizzlies "bat around ideas and have a shortlist for more, but there are some principles that govern what slogans are placed on towels." They are "more likely to represent the team than any one player, they're more team zeitgeist than needlessly antagonistic, and they have to be unique to Memphis." The NBA "has to approve each message" on towels, which "are part of the corporate sponsorship package sold for each game, so they have influence, too" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 5/15).
