Update: 6:20 p.m. Since this story first appeared the NCAA has decided to get out of the university merchandising business. A statement from the NCAA appears below.
Mark Lewis
NCAA Executive Vice President, Championships & Alliances
\”Moving forward, the NCAA online shop will no longer offer college and university merchandise. In the coming days, the store’s website will be shut down temporarily and reopen in a few weeks as a marketplace for NCAA championship merchandise only. After becoming aware of issues with the site, we determined the core function of the NCAA.com fan shop should not be to offer merchandise licensed by our member schools.\”
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Oh, the hypocrisy.
Despite vacating 111 of Penn State and Joe Paterno’s wins, the NCAA’s official online store is still selling mementos from some of those memorable games.
Let’s put it all in context first. Earlier this week, ESPN commentator Jay Bilas (@jaybilas) made waves by exposing what he considers the official NCAA store’s unethical search algorithm. Although the organization claims it does not profit from the names and likenesses of individual players, a simple search for some of the game’s best players results in some very specific merchandise.
Go to https://t.co/qpH4tNnIpH, type in \”Manziel\” in upper right search box, hit enter. This comes up. pic.twitter.com/N7KNvXIu24
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 6, 2013
A search for a dozen or so other star players resulted in similar results, making the NCAA’s argument pretty weak when it says it doesn’t profit from its players. A little while after Bilas went on his rant, the NCAA disabled its search function completely.
Penn State’s NCAA store situation is even more interesting. As @PS4RS pointed out on Twitter, the NCAA still has many items for sale relating to the 111 victories that it says no longer exist.
Take this for instance:
![\"thumb\"](\"https://onwardstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/thumb-500x500.jpeg\")
For only $23.95 you could have had this fashionable success with honor-themed long sleeve t-shirt, although it looks like they have since sold out.
Or how about this:
![\"thumb\"](\"https://onwardstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/thumb1.jpeg\")
It’s a DVD from a game the NCAA says Penn State never won, and it can be yours for only $14.95.
There are dozens of other items just like these, including a Tamba Hali signed photograph, in which the former defensive end was described as an “instrumental part of the 11-1 Nittany Lions squad that won the Orange Bowl.”
So, the NCAA can wipe 111 Penn State wins from the record books and remove bowl trophies from the last 14 years, but it can still make money from those games. Got it.
