The Cinderella story unlike any other before it has led to a financial windfall for the UMBC bookstore. It sold twice as much as it did the entire year in the 24 hours after the team’s historic win over No. 1 seed Virginia, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell.
To help take advantage of this development, the school has filed for a trio of trademarks, per Rovell, who notes the school didn’t previously have “Retrievers” or “Retriever Nation” trademarked. They also filed to trademark “16 over 1.”
“With all the attention, it made sense for us to take care of it right away,” UMBC athletic director Tim Hall said.
As Rovell notes, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office could take up to a year to approve these trademarks. However, in the meantime the school can at least, “make a case against the many opportunists putting its name and logo on T-shirts this week without giving the school a cut.”
The Retrievers are set to take on Kansas State Sunday night to try and punch a ticket to the Sweet 16. Their foe is heading into the contest without its top scorer, which may help this Cinderella continue dancing.