Terms of Service

Best Tailgate ("Best Tailgate," "we," "us," or "our") operates the website at besttailgate.com and the related services, features, and content we make available (collectively, the "Service"). These Terms of Service (these "Terms") govern your access to and use of the Service.

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree, you may not use the Service.

Section 15 contains a binding arbitration agreement and a class-action waiver. They affect how disputes between you and Best Tailgate are resolved. You may opt out of the arbitration agreement within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, as described in Section 15.7.

2.1 Minimum age. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account or use the Service. If you are under 18, you may use the Service only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian, who agrees to be bound by these Terms on your behalf.

2.2 Age 18+ for money and purchases. You must be at least 18 years old (and the age of majority where you live) to:

• connect a Stripe account or otherwise enable monetization;
• open or operate a storefront, sell swag, or receive tips;
• purchase any item or send any tip through the Service.

2.3 No under-13 use. The Service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it. See the Privacy Policy.

2.4 Where the Service is offered. The Service is offered only in the United States. We do not offer it to, and it is not intended for, users outside the United States. If you access the Service from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local law.

2.5 Eligibility generally. You may not use the Service if you are barred from doing so under applicable law, if we have previously terminated your account, or if you are on any U.S. government restricted-party list.

3.1 Registration. We sign you in with a one-time link sent to your email address ("magic link"). You agree to provide accurate, current information and to keep it up to date.

3.2 Account security. You are responsible for maintaining control of the email address associated with your account and for all activity that occurs under your account. Notify us promptly at support@besttailgate.com if you believe your account has been compromised.

3.3 One person, one account. Accounts are for individual people. You may not share, sell, or transfer your account, or create an account on behalf of anyone else without authorization.

4.1 You keep ownership. You retain all rights you have in the photos, artwork, text, video, and other material you upload, post, or submit to the Service ("User Content"). Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of your User Content to us.

4.2 License you grant to us. You grant Best Tailgate a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting and display purposes), publish, publicly display, publicly perform, and distribute your User Content solely for the purposes of operating, providing, developing, and promoting the Service. This license exists so that we can technically deliver the Service — for example, storing your photos, showing them on your tailgate page, generating product previews from your artwork, and featuring content in Best Tailgate marketing.

4.3 Duration. This license continues for as long as your User Content is on the Service, and for a reasonable period afterward to the extent needed for backups, legal records, and copies already distributed or cached. Removing your content ends the license going forward but does not require us to recall copies already shared by others or already used in published materials.

4.4 Your promises about your content. You represent and warrant that, for all User Content you submit:

• you own it or have all rights, licenses, and permissions necessary to submit it and to grant the license in Section 4.2;
• it does not infringe or misappropriate anyone's copyright, trademark, right of publicity, privacy right, or other right;
• it does not violate these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or any applicable law.

4.5 Artwork uploaded for products. Artwork you upload for swag is subject to an additional certification you accept at upload time, and again when you set up a storefront. Best Tailgate is for original tailgate branding. You may not upload team logos, team or league names, university marks, mascots, or any third-party trademarked or copyrighted material. See Section 8 and our DMCA & IP Policy.

4.6 Feedback. If you send us suggestions or feedback, we may use them without restriction or obligation to you.

4.7 Our content. The Service itself — our software, design, branding, and the Best Tailgate name and logo — belongs to us or our licensors. These Terms do not give you any right to use our trademarks without our prior written permission.

There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users on Best Tailgate. Content that is hateful, harassing, threatening, sexually explicit or otherwise objectionable is removed, and the account of the person who posted it is removed too. We review every report within 24 hours.

Your use of the Service must comply with our Community Guidelines, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference. Without limiting them, you agree not to:

• post unlawful, harassing, hateful, threatening, or defamatory content;
• post sexual content involving minors — we report this to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement, without exception;
• publish another person's private information without permission ("doxxing");
• infringe anyone's intellectual property rights;
• spam, defraud, phish, or run scams, including fake storefronts or fraudulent charges;
• facilitate gambling or sports betting through the Service;
• scrape, crawl, or harvest data from the Service except as permitted by our robots.txt;
• probe, disrupt, or circumvent the security or rate limits of the Service, or access accounts or data that are not yours;
• misrepresent your identity, your affiliation, or your authority to act for a crew, business, or brand;
• use the Service to build a competing product or to train machine-learning models on Service content without our written permission.

We may investigate and take action on any suspected violation, including removing content, limiting features, suspending or terminating accounts, and reporting to law enforcement.

The Service lets you create a tailgate page, invite crew members, and share content. The person who creates a page is its primary owner. Owners are responsible for the content on their page, for the conduct of the crew members they invite, and for any storefront and monetization associated with the page. Owners may grant limited management access to others; granting access does not relieve the owner of responsibility.

7.1 Payment processing. All payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. Your payment card details are provided directly to Stripe and are governed by Stripe's terms and privacy policy. Best Tailgate does not receive, hold, or store full payment card numbers.

7.2 Purchases of swag. Prices are shown at checkout in U.S. dollars and are exclusive of tax; applicable sales tax is calculated and added at checkout. Shipping is available to U.S. addresses only. Every item is custom-made to order — production begins after your order is placed. Returns, replacements, and refunds are governed by our Returns & Policies page, which is incorporated by reference.

7.3 Tips. Tips are voluntary payments to a tailgate crew. A tip is not a purchase, is not a donation to a charity, and is not tax-deductible. Tips are non-refundable, except where we determine there was verified fraud or unauthorized use of a payment method, or where a refund is required by law. You are responsible for confirming the recipient before sending a tip.

7.4 Chargebacks. If you initiate a chargeback, we may suspend your account and any related orders while the dispute is resolved. Fraudulent chargebacks may result in termination.

7.5 Order acceptance. We may refuse, cancel, or limit any order — including for suspected fraud, pricing errors, or violations of these Terms — and will refund amounts charged for orders we cancel before fulfillment.

This Section 8 applies to you if you enable monetization ("Creator").

8.1 Eligibility. You must be at least 18 and complete Stripe Connect onboarding, including Stripe's identity and bank verification. Stripe's Connected Account Agreement applies to you in addition to these Terms. We may decline or revoke monetization at our discretion, including where verification fails or where we suspect fraud or violations.

8.2 Tips — the split. When a fan sends a tip, Best Tailgate retains a platform fee of 10% of the tip amount, and the card processing cost for the payment is deducted from your side. You receive the tip less those two amounts. Card processing is charged at an estimated standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per payment; the fixed 30-cent component is why smaller tips leave you a lower percentage, and why the minimum tip is $5.00.

Worked example. On a $10.00 tip: Best Tailgate retains $1.00 (10%), estimated card processing is $0.59, and you receive $8.41.

8.3 Swag — the split. Each product has a production cost (the base cost of the item plus any additional print placements you select). The difference between your retail price and that production cost is the margin.

• You receive 85% of the margin, less the card processing cost for the order.
• Best Tailgate retains the production cost plus 15% of the margin. We pay the production and fulfillment supplier out of the amount we retain.
• Card processing is charged at an estimated standard rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per order, calculated on the full pre-tax amount the buyer is charged, including shipping — because that is the amount the card processor charges its percentage on. The 30-cent component is charged once per order, not per item, so it weighs more heavily on small orders.
• Applicable sales tax is collected on top of your price, is not part of the margin, and is remitted by us.

You set your retail price. Your price must exceed the production cost, and we may set a minimum margin. If the estimated processing cost for an order would exceed your entire share, the checkout is refused rather than completed at a loss to you.

Worked example. A shirt with a $10.00 production cost priced at $30.00 has a $20.00 margin. Best Tailgate retains $13.00, out of which it pays the $10.00 production cost, leaving a $3.00 platform fee (15% of margin). Your 85% share is $17.00. If shipping on that order is $5.95, estimated card processing is $1.34 — 2.9% of the $35.95 the buyer is charged before tax, plus $0.30 — so you receive $15.66.

About the estimate. Card processing is deducted using the estimated standard rate above, calculated on the full pre-tax amount charged to the buyer: your prices plus shipping. Shipping is not part of your margin and you are not paid it — we collect it to pay the carrier — but the card processor charges its percentage on it, so the processing cost for it is part of the cost of the order. Actual processing costs vary — international cards and some card brands cost more, and the sales tax added at checkout is also subject to processing. Best Tailgate absorbs the difference between the estimate and the actual cost, including the processing on sales tax, in either direction.

8.4 Affiliate commissions. We may offer affiliate commissions on featured gear in the future. This feature is not currently available, and no affiliate commissions are currently earned or payable. If we launch it, we will publish the applicable rates and terms before it becomes available to you.

8.5 Payouts and holds. Payouts are made by Stripe to the bank account you connect, on Stripe's payout schedule. We may place a hold on new earnings, delay a payout, or reverse a transfer where we reasonably believe there is fraud, a dispute or chargeback risk, a violation of these Terms, or a legal requirement. Amounts subject to a chargeback, refund, or reversal may be deducted from your balance or future earnings.

8.6 Taxes. You are solely responsible for determining and paying any taxes you owe on your earnings. We do not withhold taxes on your behalf. Stripe may issue you an IRS Form 1099-K where applicable and will collect your tax information as part of onboarding. Nothing here is tax advice.

8.7 Sales tax on swag. Sales tax on swag orders is calculated at checkout and remitted as required by applicable marketplace facilitator rules.

8.8 Your warranties as a Creator. You represent and warrant that you own or hold all rights necessary to sell every design you offer, that your products do not infringe any third party's rights, and that your listings are accurate and not misleading.

8.9 Our rights. We may remove any product or listing, suspend a storefront, withhold or reverse earnings, and terminate monetization for any violation of these Terms, the Community Guidelines, or the DMCA & IP Policy — including repeat infringement.

8.10 Relationship. You are an independent user of the Service, not our employee, agent, partner, or joint venturer. Nothing here creates such a relationship.

We respect intellectual property rights and expect our users to do the same. Our full notice-and-takedown process, counter-notice process, designated agent, and repeat-infringer policy are set out in our DMCA & IP Policy. The fastest way to report infringement is our IP report form.

We terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances, as described in the DMCA & IP Policy.

The Service integrates and links to third-party services, including Stripe (payments), our print-on-demand fulfillment provider, sports data and news sources, the retailers linked from the Marketplace, and the ticket sellers linked from tailgate pages. We are not responsible for third-party services, their content, or their practices, and your use of them is governed by their own terms.

10.1 Affiliate links. Some Marketplace links and the Ticketmaster link on tailgate pages are affiliate links. Best Tailgate LLC is a participant in the Fanatics Affiliate Program and the Ticketmaster affiliate program and earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through those links, at no extra cost to you. Details are in our Affiliate Disclosure.

10.2 Purchases from retailers and ticket sellers. When you follow a Marketplace link or a ticket link you leave the Service, and any purchase is made directly with that retailer or ticket seller — not with Best Tailgate. They set the price, accept or decline your order, and handle payment, delivery, returns, refunds, and customer service under their own terms and privacy policy. Prices and availability shown on the Service may be out of date; the seller's price at checkout applies. Taking part in an affiliate program does not mean a retailer or ticket seller sponsors or endorses Best Tailgate, and no team, league, conference, or school shown on the Service sponsors or endorses Best Tailgate.

11.1 By you. You may stop using the Service at any time. To request deletion of your account, contact privacy@besttailgate.com; see the Privacy Policy for what happens to your data.

11.2 By us. We may suspend or terminate your access, remove content, or disable monetization at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or the Community Guidelines, if required by law, or to protect the Service, our users, or third parties. We terminate repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances.

11.3 Effect of termination. On termination, your right to use the Service ends. Sections 4.3, 7, 8.5, 8.6, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 survive termination. Pending payouts for legitimate completed sales will be settled in the ordinary course, subject to holds and reversals under Section 8.5. We may retain records — including acceptance and attestation records — as described in the Privacy Policy.

THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, TIMELY, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT CONTENT IS ACCURATE OR RELIABLE.

We do not control User Content and do not endorse it. We are not responsible for the conduct of any user, on or off the Service, including at any in-person gathering. Tailgating and game-day gatherings happen in the physical world and carry real risks — you attend at your own risk. We do not vet, verify, supervise, or insure any tailgate, crew, host, or event.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

13.1 BEST TAILGATE AND ITS OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

13.2 OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO US, OR THAT WE RETAINED AS PLATFORM FEES FROM YOUR EARNINGS, IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

13.3 These limitations apply even if a limited remedy fails of its essential purpose. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Best Tailgate and its officers, members, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your User Content; (b) your use of the Service; (c) your violation of these Terms, the Community Guidelines, or any law; (d) your infringement of any third party's rights, including any intellectual property claim relating to artwork or products you offer; or (e) any product you sell through the Service. We may assume exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate with us.

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT AND TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

15.1 Informal resolution first. Before starting an arbitration, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally. Send a written notice describing the dispute and the relief you seek to legal@besttailgate.com. We will do the same for any dispute we have with you. If the dispute is not resolved within 60 days, either party may start an arbitration. This informal process is a condition precedent to arbitration, and the applicable statute of limitations is tolled during it.

15.2 Agreement to arbitrate. You and Best Tailgate agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service — including its formation, interpretation, breach, termination, or validity — will be resolved by binding individual arbitration and not in court, except as set out in Sections 15.5 and 15.6.

15.3 Arbitration rules and forum. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, as modified by these Terms. The rules are available at adr.org. The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator. The arbitrator has exclusive authority to resolve any dispute about the scope, enforceability, or arbitrability of this agreement to arbitrate. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this Section 15.

15.4 Location and format. Unless the parties agree otherwise, arbitration will take place in the county where you reside or, at your election, by telephone, videoconference, or on documents only. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, you may choose whether the arbitration proceeds on documents only, by telephone or video, or in person.

15.5 CLASS-ACTION WAIVER. YOU AND BEST TAILGATE AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of class or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may award relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party's individual claim. If this Section 15.5 is found unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief, that claim or request must be brought in court and severed from the arbitration, and the rest of Section 15 remains in force.

15.6 JURY TRIAL WAIVER. TO THE EXTENT ANY DISPUTE IS ALLOWED TO PROCEED IN COURT, YOU AND BEST TAILGATE EACH KNOWINGLY AND VOLUNTARILY WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY.

15.7 YOUR RIGHT TO OPT OUT — 30 DAYS. You may opt out of this agreement to arbitrate (Sections 15.2–15.6) by emailing legal@besttailgate.com with the subject line "Arbitration Opt-Out" within 30 days of the date you first accept these Terms. Your notice must include your name and the email address associated with your account. Opting out applies only to the arbitration agreement; the rest of these Terms still apply. Opting out will not affect your account, your access to the Service, or how we treat you in any way. If you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the courts identified in Section 16.2.

15.8 Exceptions. Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek injunctive or other equitable relief in court to prevent actual or threatened infringement or misuse of intellectual property.

15.9 Changes. If we materially change this Section 15 in the future, you may reject the change by emailing us within 30 days of the change taking effect, in which case the most recent version you accepted will govern.

16.1 Governing law. These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs Section 15.

16.2 Venue. Subject to Section 15, you and Best Tailgate agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Multnomah County, Oregon, and waive any objection to that venue.

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date and version above and post the revised Terms at besttailgate.com/terms.

If we make material changes, we will provide reasonable advance notice — for example, by email or an in-product notice — and, where appropriate, ask you to accept the updated Terms before continuing to use the Service. Changes are effective when posted (or on the date stated in the notice). Your continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Service.

Every version of these Terms is recorded in our version history, and we record which version you accepted and when.

18.1 Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, Community Guidelines, DMCA & IP Policy, and Returns & Policies, are the entire agreement between you and Best Tailgate about the Service.

18.2 Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the rest remains in effect.

18.3 No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.

18.4 Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

18.5 Force majeure. We are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

18.6 Notices. We may send notices to the email address on your account. You may send notices to us at legal@besttailgate.com.

Best Tailgate LLC

• General support: support@besttailgate.com
• Privacy, data, and deletion requests: privacy@besttailgate.com
• Legal notices and arbitration opt-out: legal@besttailgate.com
• Copyright / IP: dmca@besttailgate.com — see DMCA & IP Policy