The San Diego Padres baseball team had counterfeit autographs of their own players for sale in the team's gift shops. The Charlotte Hornets basketball team had balls signed by equipment managers. Two years ago, autographed pictures of baseball's Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were sold on the Internet. The problem was, neither had posed for the pictures and neither signed the photos. A year ago, the biggest fake on the racing circuit was the sale of Fans Against Gordon T-shirts.
Fake souvenirs offer the lure of quick profit because they avoid all the licensing fees.
Second, he sells it for cash. Third, that means he's not paying taxes on it. Fourth, and probably most important, he's not paying any royalties on it. Many of the big souvenir companies on the Winston Cup Series have bonded together to attack counterfeiters. They've combined resources to hire private investigators and lawyers at many of the racetracks on the circuit.