Super Bowl 2024 sees spike in fake merchandise sales
9:12 AM EST, February 8, 2024
This weekend, on February 11, the celebration of American sports will take place - Super Bowl LVIII. Due to an event of such great commercial importance, there are plenty of people who would also like to make money from this big match - but some do it illegally by selling fake merch.
The San Franscisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs will face off in this year's Super Bowl. The game will be held at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. In this state, the services are conducting large-scale operations to minimize the sale of illegal items, such as fake official Super Bowl merchandise.
According to CBS News, in the last few days, Homeland Security Investigations agents monitored the streets of Las Vegas, which led to 4,600 counterfeits worth $1 million being seized. As ABC News recalls, last year, agents managed to intercept 94,000 counterfeits with a total value of $28.1 million.
"I think annually, the number of items out there, estimated to be in the trillions, and that's trillion with a with a 'T'. [...] Criminal organizations sell counterfeit merchandise, they manufacture and use the gains for many nefarious purposes", said Katrina Berger, executive associate director for Homeland Security Investigations.
