SAN ANTONIO — Undercover operatives will help the NCAA protect their multimillion-dollar revenue stream from college hoops during the Final Four.
According to IMG College Licensing, who works with the NCAA and 170 collegiate institutions, the teams of plainclothes agents will be undetectable unless you’re peddling fake college gear.
“If anything is being sold from a backpack or a trash bag, you should definitely stay away from that,” Olin Arnold said.
Arnold works for IMG College Licensing. He’s in San Antonio to help protect the NCAA’s interests. Arnold estimates that $15 million in retail sales will be made by the collegiate athletic governing organization by the end of the Final Four. He points out that the merchandising dollars started at the beginning of March Madness.
In all, 33 licensees are authorized to deal collegiate merchandise. None of those are in San Antonio. The Alamo City does have a vendor who has partnerships with those licensees, though.
Arnold said that the Alamodome, Alamo Plaza, and the Final Four Music Festival are authorized venues for official college basketball team gear.
Fake gear is usually easy to spot. They are cheaper, do not come with a hologram or the licensee's name on the neck label, or they’re burned into the design.
“It’s an inferior product in quality,” Arnold said.
He said that the NCAA doesn’t allow the use of a current athlete’s name or image on merchandise. That’s a key indicator that the item is not licensed.
The royalties from the authorized merchandise go back to the NCAA, participating universities, and scholarship funds but not to any of the players due to NCAA rules.
Those caught peddling unlicensed gear have their merchandise seized and, generally, pay for the crime through restitution.