Quality Control Lawsuit

Since the NHL sold its soul to the Adidas corporation, I have long complained about the quality of the jerseys made by the German-based, worldwide sports equipment and merchandise producer. While they forced stupid marketing buzzwords down our throats since they put the Reebok logo on the back of the jerseys, the actual quality of the jerseys has suffered since leaving the watchful eye of CCM and its various companies. The quality control issues that Adidas has had for years, though, may come to a head later this year when a lawsuit in Florida forces Adidas to make changes.

Adidas is being forced to defend itself in a false advertising lawsuit based in Florida that alleges that the sportswear company "knowingly misrepresented what it constitutes as 'authentic' apparel, specifically as it relates to the quality of NHL jerseys." The lawsuit is challenging the term "authentic" as it claims Adidas has used "omissions, ambiguities, half-truths, [and] deceptive representations" to push jerseys as "authentic" despite them being anything but authentic, on-ice versions of the jerseys.

If you've worn a Fanatics-branded NHL jersey, you know that it feels like you're wearing a paper bag thanks to the poor quality of the design. In this writer's opinion, Fanatics, which holds the NHL licensing until 2032, has lowered the quality of hockey jerseys to a point where the shoddy craftsmanship used to make the jerseys should almost be considered counterfeit. Poor-quality silk screening of features and poorly gluing logos onto fabric is anything but "quality manufacturing".

AJ Strong of TealTownUSA wrote an incredible piece back in 2019 about the horrific products that Fanatics is selling, and I agree with every word he published about the lack of creativity, the complete unprofessionalism in the quality, and the overall disappointment that comes from any and all gear with the Fanatics logo on it. And just as Margot Robbie taught us about subprime loans in Adam McKay's The Big Short, "Whenever you hear the word Fanatics, think sh*t." The same advice holds true.

Because Adidas split the market into three different types of jerseys from the two that CCM had held true to for so long, terms and information were no longer clear as to what kind of jersey people were selling on the secondary markets. For those collecting gameworn jerseys and authentic, on-ice jerseys, one had to know what to look for in jersey's details in order to accurately purchase what they wanted.

The new slice into the market was the "official" jersey which had a number of the same features to the naked eye, but could only be truly distinguished in a more thorough examination. The dimpled shoulders, for example, look somewhat similar, but they are built entirely differently in that the authentic jersey has real dimples that are pressed in whereas the official jersey (retail, not on-ice) has two layers of fabric with the top layer having holes cut out to mimic dimples. For those buying jerseys, being able to see the shoulders up close would help to determine if the jersey was truly authentic or simply a mid-level retail jersey.

There are a few other details that differentiate between the authentic and retail jerseys, but let me be clear in saying that no one would ever confuse a Fanatics jersey of being "authentic" in any way. Remember Margot Robbie's words.

According to the lawsuit,

"The plaintiff asserts the differences between Adidas jerseys one can purchase online and those worn by NHL players lies in the material, stitching, and construction of the jerseys themselves. Mainly, the supposedly authentic jerseys are thinner, more fragile, and tighter than those worn by the pros."

Being that I own a number of authentic jerseys, I can certainly attest that a CCM jersey showing size 56 fits far better than the spandex-like size 56 marketed by both Reebok and Adidas. The Reebok authentic jersey also feels far less sturdy than that of the CCM models, and the CCM models feel more like a hockey sweater than the wetsuit-like clinging of the Reebok authentic jersey.

If this lawsuit forces Adidas to adopt a more traditional hockey sweater template, I'm all for it. If nothing else, though, challenging the quality of the jerseys sold as authentic, on-ice gear should hopefully force Adidas into producing something of decent quality once again. What CCM was producing in the early 2000s was perfect for the game of hockey. It wasn't broken in any way, so there was no need to change it despite all the rhetoric and buzzwords used by Reebok and Adidas.

At the end of the day, I'm hoping this lawsuit can restore some sanity to the merchandise world of hockey because the jerseys play such a big part in our being fans of the game.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!