(The $686.4 million figure omitted licensed products and reflected an error in currency conversion).
Mr. Klein's brand generates an estimated $3 billion in retail sales, mainly through licensed products.
Everlast, a 90-year-old closely held company, generates about $200 million in revenue from licensed products.
In fact there have been licensed products since Watch with Mother and Bill and Ben in the 1950s.
And it sold more than 5 million licensed products in the past year, including 2 million jerseys.
Tommy Hilfiger also sells its clothing at its own branded stores and sells licensed products like fragrances elsewhere.
He said software makers, notably Microsoft, were to blame for the Love Bug debacle because they licensed products vulnerable to sabotage.
Though teams earn far more from television, licensed products generated $10.5 billion in 2001, according to the Licensing Letter, a trade journal.
The company is also making a great deal of money from toys and merchandise – 47% of its revenues in 2013 came from these licensed products rather than games.
In the transaction, Martha Stewart Living will acquire the rights to Mr. Lagasse's television shows, cookbooks, Web site and licensed products.
To minimize problems, Mr. Dekel said, there is a policy against selling any "Family Guy" licensed products that are aimed at children under 14.
