Dallas Cowboys from WFAA Sports
Small businesses duped over fake Cowboys ad 
11:29 AM CDT on Thursday, September 10, 2009
>They thought they were advertising with the Dallas Cowboys but at least a half dozen Arlington business owners say they were duped by a company claiming to have the rights to the Cowboys trademark.
At the Lincoln Square Shopping Center, at least five small businesses put up hundreds of dollars to be part of an ad that was supposedly going to be handed out at Cowboys games.
Instead, they've received nothing and now even the Cowboys are getting involved.
Operating a small business can be a struggle, so when a chance came up to advertise with America's team, Cher Thorton jumped at it.
"Their thing was you'll be on the Dallas Cowboys 2009-2010 scheduler," she said.
She wanted her cigar shop logo on a pullout with the Cowboys stars and team schedule.
It was an ad created by Elite Sports Marketing, which charged customers between $500 to nearly $3,000.
"It was with the Dallas Cowboys... it was a great deal," said Trisa Hasley, an employee with a popcorn company.
She jumped on board too, yet three months later, her popcorn business hasn't received anything.
Now the Cowboys have joined in, and have sent a threatening e-mail to Elite Sports Marketing, warning them about using their trademark illegally.
Elite Sports Marketing lists an address in Fort Worth but when we checked it out, it came back to a tax company in a shopping center.
In an e-mail to the Cowboys, an employee of Elite, Jessica Sanders, said: "We were not understanding the rules of how and what we could publish. Upon receiving this new information, we have ceased our selling and production of this product, so as to abide the law."
So far, the businesses haven't seen any of their money.
E-mail ccivale@wfaa.com.
