The former owner of Modell’s Sporting Goods has shut down a website he launched to sell Knicks-themed merch and other items after just a week online — due to a cease-and-desist letter he received from the current owner of Modell’s, The Post has learned.
Mitchell Modell started the site to sell T-shirts right after the Knicks’ historic NBA championship but took it down Wednesday, he told The Post.
Ever the entrepreneur, he launched a new site called mitchymos.com right after shutting down mitchellmodells.com. Along with a Knicks-themed shirt, it sells threads celebrating US soccer and Philadelphia.
“I waved the white flag,” Modell said of his attempted comeback into sports retail.
Modell’s current owner Raj Gupta demanded that the founder stop using the Modell’s name in his new venture, according to the cease-and-desist letter viewed by The Post.
Gupta’s Omni Retail Enterprises, which bought Modell’s in 2023, accused the former owner of “trademark infringement” and “unfair competition.” The letter also said Modell violated the terms of an non-disclosure agreement.
It came in the wake of contentious texts between Gupta and Modell, as The Post exclusively reported.
Modell — whose great-grandfather Morris Modell founded the business in 1889 — first tried to buy back the brand from Gupta in 2024. But those talks didn’t advance. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and closed its 140 stores. It only exists as an e-commerce business now.
Late last year, Modell tried to buy the brand again, and Gupta tentatively agreed to a $1 million price tag plus equity in the new venture.
Those talks hit a wall in June, during the Knicks’ run for the NBA championship title.
Gupta told The Post last week that “The deal fell apart because [Modell] didn’t stand by the terms we had agreed to.”
Modell’s new e-commerce business sells $25 T-shirts – with $5 per sale going to cancer research – including a “Go USA” shirt in honor of the FIFA World Cup.
“Whether it’s the Knicks hoisting the NBA championship trophy, the World Cup final, the Stanley Cup or whatever moment has the world buzzing — we’re on it. Fast,” the new website boasts.
Gupta declined to comment on the latest developments.
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