National Football League
Reebok told to recall new Tebow jerseys
National Football League

Reebok told to recall new Tebow jerseys

Published Mar. 28, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

A judge Wednesday granted sporting apparel giant Nike a temporary restraining order against Reebok that forces the latter to recall all new Tim Tebow jerseys it had sold to retailers.

The order also requires Reebok to stop producing and selling the jerseys, CNBC reported.

The move comes after Nike accused its top competitor of illegally marketing new Tebow jerseys despite Reebok's contract with the players union having already expired.

Nike, who is set to take over the NFL apparel market from Reebok this season, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court in New York, claiming its rival attempted to make a last ditch cash grab following Tebow's trade from Denver to the New York Jets last week.

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"We have filed a complaint relating to unauthorized use of Tim Tebow's name on New York Jets related apparel," Nike said in a statement Wednesday, before the restraining order was handed down. "Nike is authorized and licensed to use Tim Tebow's name on products. We have no further comment at this stage."

According to CNBC, Reebok must have deals in place with both the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) in order to manufacture official players' jerseys.

The apparel company's contract with the NFLPA reportedly expired before the Jets completed the trade with Denver on March 22. Reebok's deal with the league does not technically expire until the end of March.

Jets jerseys with Reebok logos and Tebow's name emblazoned on the back hit stores within a day of the extremely popular quarterback's trade to New York.

Nike reportedly requested in its lawsuit that all Reebok-made Tebow Jets jerseys be removed from shelves and destroyed.

Reebok has not commented on the lawsuit.

The NFL announced in October 2010 that Nike had outbid Reebok for the rights to manufacture and market official NFL apparel, starting in 2012.

The takeover ended a 10-year run by Reebok as the league's sole apparel licensee.

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