Matt Barnthouse
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Students turn to counterfeit jerseys to save money.

Sophomore Josh Roop’s wardrobe is filled with NBA jerseys. Many of his jerseys are some of the most expensive ones on the market today with names like Karl Malone and Derrick Rose.

Or so it seems.
Roop said he buys counterfeit jerseys or fake jerseys illegally produced and advertised as the real thing. These jerseys sell for as little as $20 and are traditionally made with cheaper fabrics than the tailor-made NBA jerseys found on nbastore.com.
“I like to buy counterfeit jerseys because they are very cheap, so I can get them for 20 bucks, where they would be usually $80 to $100 as a real product,” Roop said.
Junior Shawn Heffern said he also buys counterfeit jerseys. He said he prefers them to authentic jerseys due to the tough economic climate.
Heffern said, “With this tough economical time, I feel like for 20 bucks less I can get a profit.”
The popularity of counterfeit jerseys is surging. According to MarkMonitor, a brand-protecting agency, counterfeit sportswear websites attract approximately 56 million visits and sell upwards of 800,000 illicit jerseys each year, causing $200 billion in lost sales to both the clothing companies who make the authentic jerseys and the leagues that license them. Twenty-seven percent of advertisements on the Internet come from these sites in general.
But with the potential for lockouts from both the NFL and NBA, Roop said he may eventually consider buying only legitimate jerseys.
“If there is a lockout, I might sacrifice some of my money to buy some real products because I enjoy the NBA, and I have season tickets to Pacers games,” Roop said.
Heffern, however, said he may do the exact opposite.
“It just shows the selfishness of the owners, and really most of the money goes to them, so I don’t really feel bad that I am helping out poor Chinese people,” he said.
Counterfeit jerseys look like the real thing, so Roop and Heffern said they do not mind. The quality is sub-par at best, but Heffern does not think it is too noticeable.
“(The quality deficiencies are) not noticeable,” Heffern said. “I mean if somebody is really looking hard I guess they could find something. If you are just walking in the hallway, no one will notice.”
Roop said, “I don’t think that I am (ripping off the league). I just get my counterfeit jersey, and I get what I want, then it’s all good for me.”