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Apparel & game-worn

Jerseys that prove where they have been

A game-worn jersey is worth many times a replica, and today the difference rests on photo-matching, letters and trust. Spark Labs puts the proof in the numbers, the thread and the tags, so a scan can tell issued from worn from fake.

Explore the jerseyTalk to us
MOREY 87 C GAME48 MOREY 87 ILLUSTRATION · SEAN MOREY
MOREY 87 C GAME48 MOREY 87 ILLUSTRATION · SEAN MOREY

Five places to hide proof

Shown in co-founder Sean Morey’s name. He wore four numbers in the NFL; pick one.

The game-worn problem

Game-worn is the top of the apparel market, and the hardest part to prove. Authenticators compare stitching, wear and photographs from the game. It works, but it is slow, expensive and open to argument. Meanwhile “player-issued” and “team-issued” jerseys, and good replicas with copied tags, get sold as game-worn.

Crystals change the question from “does this look right?” to “does this answer the reader?”, and the Forever record adds when the jersey was issued, who wore it and when it left the locker room.

  • Issued vs. worn. The equipment room scans a jersey when it is issued and again when it comes back from the game.
  • Tags that cannot be bought. Jock tags and patches carry blends that are never sold loose.
  • Coded after the fact, too. A handheld printer can put an invisible code on the inside tag of a jersey already made. See how
  • Built for the life of a garment. The crystals are inorganic. Each fabric, print and wash process is tested before a program starts.

From the locker room to the auction

Every hand-off is a scan, and every scan joins the same record.

  1. Issued

    The equipment manager scans the jersey and assigns it to a player and a game.

  2. Worn

    The player wears it. Wear is photographed as usual, now tied to the record.

  3. Collected

    It comes back to the equipment room and is scanned as game-worn.

  4. Released

    The team or league sells or donates it with the record attached.

  5. Resold

    Every later buyer scans it and sees the same history.

A tag that answers back

For hang tags, seals and patches: an IMS invention, patent pending, that Spark Labs brings to team apparel. The reader fires a changing sequence of light, so a copy has to give every right answer in the right order. Choose a tag and watch it run.

Patent pendingPriority: U.S. 63/764,287 · filed Feb 27, 2025 · not yet published
CHALLENGE · RESPONSE ILLUSTRATION

Three questions before “genuine.”

For jerseys, caps, hang tags, seals and ID cards. The mark is built in layers, and the reader fires a changing sequence of light at it, so a copy has to get every answer right, in the right order.

  • Three layers. An overt layer anyone can see under UV, a covert layer that answers only to infrared, and a forensic layer for the lab.
  • Challenge and response. One ultraviolet and two infrared colors of light. The reader can change the order every time.
  • Brand color, measured. The glow must match the team or brand color within a set tolerance (ΔE in CIELAB).
  • Color, spectrum and time. Authenticity rests on at least two of the three, including how long the glow lasts.
  • Pass, retest or fail. A match score with two thresholds asks for a second scan when the result is borderline, and every check can be logged.

Plain-language summary of the filed application; the claims as issued will define the patent. Illustration only.

Licensed fan gear, too

Most fans buy replicas, and most counterfeit sports apparel is a knockoff of those replicas. A team blend in every licensed jersey and cap lets a stadium shop, a marketplace or a customs officer tell licensed gear from a fake with one scan, without changing how the gear looks.

For leagues, teams and licensees. Blends can be set per team, per season or per product line.

Leagues
One reader checks every team’s gear, and the blend says which team and season it belongs to.
Teams
Protect the store, the auction and the game-worn program with the same crystals.
Licensees
Prove which units came off licensed lines, and find gray-market overruns.

More that Spark Labs protects

AutographsThe pen: ink that proves the signature. Trading cardsProof in every layer of every card. Guitars & musicStage-played guitars, picks and tour gear. Art, prints & gearPosters, prints, photos and game gear. Lightfast.

Make the jersey prove itself.

Teams, leagues, equipment managers and licensees: tell us what you issue, sell and auction, and we will plan where the crystals go.

Talk to Spark Labs