The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center recently joined Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the NBA to warn fans attending the 2022 NBA Finals to be on the alert for counterfeit items.
Throughout the NBA Finals, the IPR Center will work with the NBA, as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, to help enforce laws that prohibit the distribution of counterfeit NBA products, according to a June 3 ICE news release.
“Criminals have been known to exploit fan enthusiasm during major sporting events by selling counterfeit jerseys, hats and other sports-related merchandise to unsuspecting consumers,” Jim Mancuso, IPR Center director said in the release. “Fans who spend their hard-earned money can rest assured the IPR Center and its partners are working around the clock to ensure they are getting only genuine, high-quality officially licensed NBA merchandise.”
According to the release, counterfeiters often target events like the NBA Finals in order to exploit fans who wish to take home souvenirs.
“In San Francisco, Boston and beyond, counterfeiters take advantage of consumers who want genuine, quality NBA merchandise and tickets – and take away from their overall NBA Finals experience,” Ayala Deutsch, NBA executive vice president and deputy general counsel, stated in the release.
The NBA and HSI advise fans to avoid becoming victims by shopping exclusively at NBA-authorized stores, looking for official NBA product identifiers such as hologram stickers and examining clothing for torn tags, odd marks and misspellings, the release reported. Fans are also advised to avoid anybody selling paper tickets since only digital tickets for the 2022 NBA Finals will be available at NBAEvents.com.
"Fans deserve memories and authentic mementos that last," Deutsch added, "At the NBA Finals, like all NBA events, we’re implementing our extensive anti-counterfeiting program to help protect both fans and legitimate, tax-paying retailers from being victimized.”
A recent report by Frontier Economics estimates the global worth of counterfeit and pirated products at $710-$970 billion per year, according to the release.
