NFL Properties

National Football League Properties,also known asNFL Properties(abbreviatedNFLP), is the merchandising and licensing arm of theNational Football League(NFL). The subsidiary of the league was founded in 1963 to maintain control of the brands of the league and its franchises and to license and negotiate with vendors to create official NFL merchandise. The NFL Properties head office is located inNew York City.

Team NFL Heroes "mascot" program

A line ofmascot-like characters representing each team in the NFL was developed by NFL Properties in the early 1990s. Named "Team NFL Heroes", various types of merchandise such as stuffed dolls, school supplies, t-shirts, and lamps featuring the characters were manufactured and marketed mainly to children and teenagers. Mascot costumes of each character were created and people wearing these costumes made an appearance at the1995Pro Bowl.(Pictures of the costumes at the game can be seen online.) Most of the Team NFL Heroes characters only lasted a season or two but a handful ended up being adopted as official mascots by their respective teams, either immediately after the Team NFL Heroes project was canceled or years later; Revere, theNew England PatriotsTeam NFL Hero (name later changed toPat Patriotafter becoming the team's live mascot), is an example of the former whileMilestheDenver BroncosTeam NFL Hero is an example of the latter.

During the Team NFL Heroes campaign theGreen Bay Packershad abearfor a mascot despite their arch rivals being theChicago Bears.Specifically apolar bear,the Packers' Team NFL Hero's name was "Bayer", a play on Green Bayer (meaning a citizen ofGreen Bay, Wisconsin) while simultaneously being ahomonymof "bear".

Comic books

The NFL branched out into comic books in the early 1990s whenMarvel Comicscreated the characterNFL SuperPro.The comic book and character was widely panned and only 12 issues of the comic book were printed. The NFL also promoted SuperPro at some events by using a mascot.

Video games

Long before video games, The National Football League began licensing Electric Football in 1967. The Game was produced by Tudor Games. There have been several American football video games based on NFL teams created for various consoles and computers over the years, fromNFL Pro Leagueby Micro Sports Inc. to10-Yard Fightand theTecmo Bowlseries for theNESto the more well knownMadden seriesthat have been released annually since 1988. The Madden series is named after former coach and American football commentatorJohn Madden.Prior to the 2005–2006 football season, other NFL games were produced by competingvideo game publishers,such as2K GamesandMidway Games.However, in December 2004, Electronic Arts signed a five-year exclusive agreement with the NFL, meaning only Electronic Arts will be permitted to publish games featuring NFL team and player names. This prompted video game developerMidway Gamesto release a game in 2005 calledBlitz: The League,with fictitious teams and players. In February 2008,EA Sportsrenewed their exclusivity agreement with the league throughSuper Bowl XLVIIin 2013.According toThe Sporting News,as of October 2015 "it’s not publicly known when, or if, the contract will end."

Legal issues

NFLProperties was taken to court by former supplier American Needle, Inc overantitrustviolations. The issue was NFL Properties granting exclusive license to one supplier over making a product.

Court decisions varied on whether the league and it franchises were acting as a single entity, or whether franchises were competing with each other off the field in merchandising sales. The case was eventually appealed all the way to theUnited States Supreme Court.