NHL Officials Say to Look Out for Counterfeit Stanley Cup Merchandise

NHL officials have instructed fans to keep an eye out for counterfeit Stanley Cup merchandise. (Image via WPXI)

As the Stanley Cup Finals continue, NHL officials have advised fans to stay on the lookout for counterfeit Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks Stanley Cup merchandise.

According to WPXI, the first thing fans should look for is a hologram tag or sticker indicating that it's officially licensed merchandise. Second, they should look for a laser-printed serial number on the tag. Without the tag, the merchandise is fake. Finally (and this should be fairly obvious), fans should keep an eye out for spelling mistakes (although sometimes real merchandise features mistakes, like with our pal Bieber).

"At the end of the day, there are a lot of local places paying taxes, playing by the rules and selling high quality merchandise, and those businesses deserve our support," Jia Wang, an NHL spokesperson, told WPXI.

After this year's Super Bowl, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations seized nearly 45,000 counterfeit Super Bowl items worth a total of an estimated $39 million. They seized around $1.5 million in counterfeit merchandise in San Francisco, home of Super Bowl 50, alone. So hockey fans should be on the lookout in both Pittsburgh and San Jose, since the series switches locations.