NEW YORK (AP) — Reebok wants a judge to lift a ban on its sale of apparel with the name of New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow (TEE’-boh).
Reebok International Ltd. said Tuesday it can prove it wasn’t selling merchandise in violation of its expired 10-year licensing deal with the NFL.
The ban came after Nike Inc. filed a lawsuit last week, days after Tebow was traded from Denver to New York. Nike has NFL licensing rights. The Beaverton, Ore.-based company says it’ll lose a one-time opportunity if the ban on Reebok sales is lifted.
Reebok says it sold 6,000 Tebow Jets jerseys and 25,000 T-shirts, not enough to impact Nike sales. It says only a small number of jerseys and no T-shirts contained its logo or name.
Reebok is based in Canton, Mass. It’s a subsidiary of Adidas AG.
