NFL Warns its Fans; Look out for Fake Tickets

It happens every year, a few days before the Super Bowl a round of counterfeit tickets emerge and fans pay big bucks to find out at the gates that their tickets are no good.

To guard against knock-offs, the NFL has placed multi-dimensional holograms on game tickets that show different logos at different angles. Plus, on the back of real tickets is a stadium with a green playing field — the green is a heat-sensitive ink that disappears when heat is applied and reappears when it cools. But even these measures are not foolproof," NFL Senior Counsel Anastasia Danias said. "Counterfeiters can replicate them," she said.

The problems are the same for counterfeit merchandise, where there is usually an influx of these items in the host city and the two competing cities. So far $1.2Million worth of countefeit jerseys, hats and other merchandise has been seized.

Some stores have been found to have counterfeit items mixed in with authentic ones. The message the NFL is trying to get across is that counterfeiting is a crime and will not be tolerated.
Major John Bennett of the Tampa Police Department said task forces will continue to hunt counterfeiters. "If you want a jersey that is orange and says 'Central Booking,' we'll be happy to give it to you," he said. "And it won't be a counterfeit, by the way."