One interesting storyline to surface on Thursday has fans up in arms regarding a key decision from the University of Colorado.
As Texas Tech fans know, every home game in Lubbock has a theme that includes a special gameday T-shirt sold by Red Raider Outfitter. When asked to approve the design on a ‘Celebrate America’ shirt, representatives from Colorado rejected the idea.
According to Stephen Spiegelberg, owner of the Red Raider Outfitter, mentioned that the design and preparation for themes, including the “Celebrate America” game, begins months in advanced. While Texas Tech’s athletic department immediately approved the request, Colorado responded with two words: “not interested.”
A university spokesperson responded to the story Thursday evening with an official statement to clear up the report.
“We get requests to use our marks and often decline for any number of reasons. In this case, the decision was unrelated to the “Celebrate America” theme. Our standards are consistently applied and are based on widely accepted licensing and trademark best practices used by national and global brands.“
After amending the design and adjusting the look, Spiegelberg reached out to the Buffaloes once again and was rejected for the second time.
“At that point, we pressed a little bit more, and we were told they won’t be licensing a product that had an American flag on it,” Spiegelberg said.
“At this point with our fanbase, we decided we would not be selling any type of Colorado merchandise in the store with the logo,” Spiegelberg continued. “We refuse to do that because Colorado would receive financial benefit from those shirts. And we don’t think that anybody has the right to limit the use of the American flag in this great nation.”
The money raised by Red Raider Outfitter goes to a local initiative called “Momument of Courage” which helps give back to military veterans and those in need.
“We‘ve already decided that we’re making our normal donation to Danny Koch, which is a war memorial here in Lubbock,” Spiegelber added. “It‘ll be used – adding a West Texas Purple Heart to his memorial. We‘re pleased to say that we’re continuing to make that donation regardless of Colorado’s intent to limit our ability to celebrate. We will continue to keep celebrating here.”
