Cometh the game, cometh the counterfeits.

With the National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, this coming Sunday, millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit branded merchandise related to the big game and the participating teams – the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals – has been flooding into southern California, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

DHS said federal agents had already seized about 22,000 counterfeit items as of Friday, Feb. 4. Products included everything from a fake Vince Lombardi Trophy (the trophy the winning team gets) to jerseys, caps and rings. During last year’s Super Bowl, agents intercepted about $45 million worth of knockoff merch. 

“Simply put, counterfeiting is a crime. It’s nothing more than stealing,” said Carlos Martel of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ABC reported. “Criminals and counterfeiters are doing nothing more than deceiving and exploiting fan enthusiasm by sending low-quality fake goods to them.”

Federal agents are cracking down on counterfeit NFL gear worth millions of dollars, pouring into Southern California as Los Angeles gets ready to host the Super Bowl. https://t.co/C65RpAXnyP

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 6, 2022

DHS is on high alert to the bogus swag. ABC reported that agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection are using state-of-the-art equipment as part of their efforts to identify fake goods. A port official noted that oftentimes entities importing counterfeit merchandise have connections to transnational criminal organizations.

Counterfeit merch tied to the big game is an issue because it leaves fans with products that are often of lower quality than authentic items and because it takes money away from legitimate retailers and vendors that went through the time and expense of obtaining licenses to produce and/or sell genuine merch, authorities noted.