Apparel items with logo flying off shelves

Thousands of Chief supporters may have threatened to withhold donations to the University of Illinois, but they haven't stopped stocking up on Chief merchandise.

Less than a week since an online petition has collected more than 7,000 signatures from UI students, alumni and friends pledging they will "cancel any membership affiliation with the university that pays dues, and will no longer donate any money in any form to a University of Illinois that is without Chief Illiniwek," there's been a run on all things Chief Illiniwek.

"If it has the Chief on it, people are wanting it," said Kristi Brownfield, owner of Brownfield Sports in Urbana.

Rumors had been circulating that the UI would announce the end to Chief Illiniwek, but "since that on-the-record ruling came down on Friday, it has exploded. We didn't anticipate this much of a reaction. We're having a lot of fun keeping up with the sales," said Cory Shumard, manager of Gameday Spirit in Champaign.

"Anything with the Chief logo is dominating requests. Especially anything referring to the last dance or the 80-year-old tradition," he added.

Since Friday, Shumard estimates the average number of items per transaction has more than doubled – "that's always nice to see," he said, adding that about 90 percent of sales since the announcement have been for Chief-related items.

Hundreds of items, including Chief buttons, glasses and photos, have been listed for sale in recent days on the online auction site eBay. Top sellers on the UI's Fighting Illini site included a slate Chief Illiniwek sign and a "Hail to the Chief" T-shirt. Even a few Chief-related items, such as duffel bags, were for sale on the NCAA's Web site as of Wednesday.

"We have a lot of Chief merchandise, and we're getting more every day," Brownfield said.

Both Brownfield and Gameday Spirit are not only retailers, but are also licensed to reproduce the trademarked items they sell in their stores. And until they hear otherwise from the UI, they will continue to print and sell Chief apparel and items.

UI attorneys are reviewing trademark laws, and the university has not yet announced what will happen with the Chief Illiniwek logo or name.

Collegiate Licensing Company of Atlanta, which manages the UI's licensing, will soon send notices to the approximately 415 companies that hold licensing contracts with the UI. The message will explain "as of now, it's status quo," said Marty Kaufmann, assistant athletic director and university licensing coordinator. Companies that have been selling with the Chief logo can continue to do so.

"But this policy could change in the future. It could be a few weeks or a few months," Kaufmann said.

When the policy does change, however, the UI will inform its licensees, and they are not going to demand companies pull the goods from the shelves immediately, he said.

Every time retailers order or re-order Chief hoodies or Chief totes from manufacturers, the UI receives some money.

The university's royalty fees are set at 8 percent of the wholesale price for every university-licensed item, whether it's a "Fighting Illini Avenue" street sign or a T-shirt.

The UI's revenue from licensing has grown significantly since 1999-2000, when the UI brought in $435,000 from licensing.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the UI made $1.8 million from licensing. That's up from $1.6 million in 2004-2005 and $1 million in 2003-2004.

The majority of that money – about 90 percent to 95 percent – goes to UI athletics, Kaufmann said.

After a company is granted a license to sell University of Illinois items, it can use all of the UI's trademarks. That could include the I-block or the Chief Illiniwek image, Kaufmann said.

The companies do need to follow the UI's guidelines on how the trademarks be used. The Chief image, for example, is only allowed to be placed from the waist up on apparel.

Licensees submit quarterly reports, but these reports don't specify which logo was on the the items sold, Kaufmann said.

That means it's hard to pinpoint how much revenue Chief merchandise brings to the UI. The university does not track revenue from any one logo, but Kaufmann estimates Chief merchandise is a six-figure amount.

Meanwhile, thousands of Chief supporters have said they will stop giving their money directly to the UI to protest the UI Board of Trustees' decision to end the Chief's performances and discontinue use of the name Chief Illiniwek.

As of Wednesday evening, the "Loyalty to the Chief" petition was the most popular petition on www.thepetitionsite.com for 48 hours.

University development officers were expecting to hear from UI donors after the decision. In fact, at 8:30 a.m. last Friday, 30 minutes before the university made the announcement, staff members with the University of Illinois Foundation as well as campus development and public relations employees met to discuss the decision and responses.

But so far, "the response has been quite modest," said Foundation spokesman Jim Gobberdeil.

The UI did, however, have one "significant" donor who was in the process of making a gift to the university ask that it be placed on hold.

"We have had some telephone calls from individuals who said they were not giving because of the Chief decision, but a few have indicated that because of the decision, they would now make gifts to the university," Gobberdeil said.

As for what kind of financial impact the decision will have on the UI Foundation's annual fund or the upcoming campaign to be launched on June 1, Gobberdeil said, "One never knows. We'll just have to see what transpires."

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