In answer to Nike's lawsuit against it for sales of Tim Tebow/New York Jets merchandise, Reebok claimed in court that it had the right under an agreement with the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), the players' union, to use names and numbers of players changing teams during March.
“Given that Mr. Tebow has been a member of the NFLPA since he has been in the league, Reebok did not need any permission to use his name and number,” Reebok said in papers filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Reebok said it only sold about 6,000 Tebow Jets jerseys after the quarterback was acquired in a trade with the Denver Broncos announced March 21 as well as 25,000 T-shirts bearing the logos of Jets and the NFL and the name and number of Tebow. Of those, only about 400 jerseys had Reebok's name or logo, the company said. The 25,000 T-shirts and the remaining 5,600 jerseys did not have any Reebok markings, court documents said. Reebok also said that the small amount of product couldn't have caused “irreparable injury” to Nike as Nike had attested.
“If Reebok was intending to flood the market so as to injure Nike, it certainly would have created a greater quantity of Tebow jerseys,” the company said, adding that at the time of the trade, it had 21,000 blank Jets jerseys it could have manufactured with Tebow’s name. “It is hard to imagine that such a relatively small sales figure could have a material impact on the number of Tebow jerseys that Nike will be able to sell over the life of its licensing agreement.”
As of April 1, Nike has an exclusive five-year contract with the NFL to sell apparel for all 32 teams in the league. In its lawsuit filed last Tuesday, Nike accused Reebok of trying to capitalize on “short-lived, intense consumer appetite” for such products after Tebow's March 21 trade to the Jets from the Denver Broncos. It argued that Reebok’s rights to create NFL-themed apparel expired with its contract with the NFL Players Association on March 1. Nike further argued in court papers that the order is necessary to protect Nike from irreparable harm, “including harm associated with loss of brand identification and goodwill resulting from sales of Reebok-branded, Tebow-identified, New York Jets-related apparel.”
A Manhattan issued an order on March 28 preventing Reebok from selling the apparel that Nike described as unauthorized. The judge, however, rejected Nike's demand that Reebok destroy any unauthorized Tebow products. A hearing has been set for Wednesday to hear arguments over whether the ban should be extended.
