The 12th Man “The 12th Man,” What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear those words? I bet it was the Seattle Seahawks… What if I told you that the Seattle Seahawks did not start the saying ‘The 12th Man’, in fact the Seattle Seahawks do not even own the rights to the name. Could you guess who owns the rights to name? I’ll let you think about it…Today I will discuss the trademark incident involving the Seahawks and why it is important to them, how the Seahawks market the ‘12th Man’, and how they market ‘12th Man’ products. The Seattle Seahawks are forced to pay out money to use the ‘12th Man’ phrase. The official “12th Man” phrase first introduced itself on the Texas A&M campus in 1921 in the school’s newspaper. Eventually the
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As of recently the Seahawks have renewed their agreement with Texas A&M for $140,000 initial pay and $28,000 per year through 2021. $18,000 of the $28,000 goes to royalty fees and the remaining $10,000 goes to helping the university protect the trademark. The Seahawks built a foundation on the idea of the ‘12th Man’. As mentioned above the foundation started with the number 12 jersey retirement on December 15, 1984 for the fans. In doing so the fans felt more involved and more loved by organization, which in the end brings more recognitions to ‘12th Man’. The next step the Seahawks took was in 2003 with the installment of the ‘12’ flag that is raised every home game by local celebrities, former players, and other sport athletes. Notable names such as Jamal Crawford, Sir mix-a-lot, Nate Robinson, Shaun Alexander, Walter Jones, Jason Terry, Bill Russell, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and Ken Griffey Jr. just to name a few. The ‘12th Man’ has also appeared in major moments for the Seahawks such as the overtime win against the New York Giants in 2005 when the game ball was labeled the “12th Man Ball”, which ultimately started the trademark
As of recently the Seahawks have renewed their agreement with Texas A&M for $140,000 initial pay and $28,000 per year through 2021. $18,000 of the $28,000 goes to royalty fees and the remaining $10,000 goes to helping the university protect the trademark. The Seahawks built a foundation on the idea of the ‘12th Man’. As mentioned above the foundation started with the number 12 jersey retirement on December 15, 1984 for the fans. In doing so the fans felt more involved and more loved by organization, which in the end brings more recognitions to ‘12th Man’. The next step the Seahawks took was in 2003 with the installment of the ‘12’ flag that is raised every home game by local celebrities, former players, and other sport athletes. Notable names such as Jamal Crawford, Sir mix-a-lot, Nate Robinson, Shaun Alexander, Walter Jones, Jason Terry, Bill Russell, Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton, and Ken Griffey Jr. just to name a few. The ‘12th Man’ has also appeared in major moments for the Seahawks such as the overtime win against the New York Giants in 2005 when the game ball was labeled the “12th Man Ball”, which ultimately started the trademark