A guy from Connecticut is upset that a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey he bought marked as “authentic” isn’t the real jersey worn by the players, so he’s made a federal case of it by suing Adidas.
Brian Perry, who lives in Windsor, Conn., brought the complaint in U.S. District Court on Saturday against Adidas America, which makes player shirts for the National Hockey League and sells others to the public.
The suit says the company is pretending the ones sold to the public are the same as the ones the players wear.
Perry wants compensatory and punitive damages for himself and all others like him on claims of fraud and misrepresentation, saying fans who buy “authentic” jerseys aren’t getting what they pay for.
“[Perry] was disappointed because he believed the product was authentic, understood as being identical to that worn on the ice by NHL players during games, even though it was not the same jersey worn by members of the Pittsburgh Penguins and other NHL players,” the suit says.
Perry said he bought one of the shirts at the Penguins store at the team’s home arena sometime in the past two years when he went to a game.
Based on the ad copy and labels, he thought it was the same one the players wear, “from the fight strap to the dimples to the stitching and the fit.” A “fight strap” is an added piece of hook-and-loop stitched fabric that prevents the shirt from being pulled over a player’s head during hockey fights.
Perry said Adidas uses language at the store and online suggesting that the shirts are the ones worn by players “when the puck drops.” The fight strap in particular is misleading, he said, because shirts worn by the public wouldn’t need one.
He paid more than $200 for his shirt and thinks he was ripped off.
He said Adidas should have to label the shirt as a “replica” and not “authentic.”
Adidas America is based in Oregon. No one was available Sunday to respond to the suit.
Torsten covers the courts for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Reach him at jtorsteno@gmail.com.
