An illegal Michael Porter Jr. T-shirt is $19.50, and that’s his own problem
BRANSON MO NEWS: The phone case shows Michael Porter Jr. in a white Nathan Hale High School basketball uniform. The T-shirt portrays the freshman in a blue-and-white Tolton jersey.There are sweatshirts, too. And posters and autographed basketballs — all showing the name, likeness or image of Porter, a Columbia local and Missouri freshman whose influence has reached profit-driven vendors across the country.It’s all against NCAA rules. And it’s all illegal.
As an NCAA athlete, not only is Porter’s image not his to profit from, but it’s also up to him and the university to stop the production and sale of such products to avoid NCAA eligibility violations.That rule has spurred legal battles and drawn criticism from advocates of student-athletes. All the while, the very notion of amateurism is in limbo for revenue-generating sports such as men’s basketball and football.NCAA Bylaw 12.5.2.2 states that “if a student-athlete’s name or picture appears on commercial items” — such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, coffee mugs, posters, etc. — “the student-athlete (or the institution acting on behalf of the student-athlete) is required to take steps to stop such an activity in order to retain his or her eligibility for intercollegiate athletics.”In 2014, repercussions of the bylaw made it to Mississippi State, where former quarterback Dak Prescott was forced to sue a T-shirt vendor using his name and likeness without consent. He did so through the NCAA Opportunity Fund and was able to return the next year for his senior season.MU sent cease and desist letters when the university’s Compliance Office was made aware of T-shirts and posters portraying Porter being sold on RedBubble, a vendor representing independent artists.Many of the products using Porter’s name and likeness have since been taken down, including those sold by the vendor RatTrapTees. One of its …
Author:
Powered by WPeMatico
All Things Branson Sponsor:All Things Branson Sponsor: