The benefits of counterfeit goods

In 2012, the major professional sports leagues in the US lost more than $13 billion in revenue due to sales of counterfeit shirts and merchandise, including a whopping $3 billion alone by the 32 teams in the National Football League (NFL). Some top-end ‘authentic elite’ team shirts, which should retail for $250, could be found online with an 80 percent discount. These numbers, while staggering on their own, are just a drop in the ocean when we look at the total black economy, which runs annually into trillions of dollars.