Federal agents cracking down on counterfeit NFL merchandise ahead of Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium

If you're hosting the Super Bowl, there's no doubt your city will be flooded with counterfeit goods.

The 2022 Super Bowl will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, so agents with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations have already begun enforcement.

"The Super Bowl brings with it additional activity and tourism and there's a larger audience and consumer base for the goods," said Eddy Wang, the deputy special agent in charge of HSI Los Angeles.

At the 2020 Super Bowl in Miami, federal agents working with local law enforcement partners seized $123 million worth of counterfeit Super Bowl merchandise.

"These are all profit-driven criminal activities so we don't know where those profits are going. They could go to the trafficking of firearms, trafficking of narcotics and even worse, to help promote foreign terrorist organizations," said Wang.

Counterfeit goods, which are mainly produced outside the United States, hurt the country's economy. Homeland Security Investigations also says with counterfeit goods, you don't know the materials being used or who's making the merchandise. They could be produced using child labor.

"We'll be working with the NFL to identify legitimate brand holders and retailers so if those goods are determined not to be legitimate and counterfeit, we'll be seizing those goods from those vendors," said Wang.

If you're shopping for Super Bowl merchandise, HSI Los Angeles says the number one thing to look for is: if the deals seem to good to be true, they probably are.