makes golf more exciting than it should be. He helped lead Team Europe to victory at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, where the home team beat Team USA by a sizeable margin. When asked if he could ‘confirm or deny’ whether it was his silhouette on the shirt, McIlroy offered a different perspective. ‘It looks more like Adam Scott than me, but yeah, I can see the resemblance. It looks a little similar.’ Scott, for those who favor mini golf over majors, is an Australian pro with not nearly as many accolades as the Irishman. McIlroy added that he wouldn’t mind if American fans wore the shirt, even if they think it’s him. Ryder Cup merch is big business. At the 2021 Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, the merch tent spanned 60,000 square feet and carried more than 1,300 items. The 2023 event generated over $300 million in economic activity. That’s what makes the shirt’s sudden disappearance from both the Ralph Lauren and Ryder Cup sites even more noticeable. Neither the brand nor the PGA offered up an explanation. The tee simply disappeared in an Irish goodbye. 3. Equipment Manufacturer Requests NHL Team Stop Selling Merch Ahead of the Utah Mammoth season opener, the NHL’s newest team was eager to sell jerseys, shirts and other branded merch boasting its arrival. However, an Oregon-based company called Mammoth Hockey already exists, and the Pacific Northwest business, which sells hockey equipment, wasn’t keen on new Mammoth gear entering the market. On August 1, the NHL franchise Utah Mammoth filed a federal lawsuit against Mammoth Hockey in order to get declaratory judgement that the ‘Utah Mammoth’ name is not in violation of rights asserted by Mammoth Hockey. On Sept. 25, the equipment company countered with a filing that sought a preliminary injunction. In the injunction, Mammoth Hockey requested that the NHL team cease selling Mammoth-branded merch until the courts have reached a conclusion. A key point to be noted in this dispute is that the Oregon-based equipment company has never owned the trademark to Mammoth Hockey. In fact, according to the NHL team, the business even voiced support publicly for the league potentially using Mammoth as the name of its expansion team. Technically, the Oregon-based equipment company may have a case, but it might be difficult for it to prove the merit of its assertion. Without having registered for a trademark, Mammoth Hockey will be relying on common law, which can be protected at the state and federal level. The company’s filing argues that it has sold merchandise in 47 states, including Utah, which is enough to establish common law for its assertion to the rights of the name in those states. The business also makes the point that, by the nature of fandom, customers who root for other teams are less likely to buy from Mammoth Hockey because it might be confused for supporting a rival. ‘We’ve poured 11 years of hard work into making gear players can trust,’ says Erik Olson, founder of Mammoth Hockey. ‘We want to continue doing that for many years to come.’ Photo courtesy of ifrogtees.com Photo courtesy of shop.nhl.com/nhl-utah/t-3891458094+z-904672- 431452143?_s=bm-nhlcom-Banner-NHL-Shop-Utah-US/ PPAI • DECEMBER 2025 • 69 Buzzworthy | Community
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==