What does it sound like when Philadelphia Phillies fans let loose after nearly 30 years of frustration?
Cha-ching.
Thrilled to have their hard-luck team in the World Series, Phillies fans have been buying up team hats, T-shirts, jackets and just about everything else you can imagine.
“This has blown away everyone’s expectations, including the team, including our vendors,” Howard Smith, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president of licensing, said Wednesday.
“The greatest hot market in the history of sports was the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Whatever category you wanted to look at, it was just off the charts,” Smith said, referring to the short sales period for licensed merchandise tied to a team’s success.
“This year, there’s something going on,” he said. “Right now, the way the Phillies are trending, it will be the second-greatest hot market. Depending on how long it lasts, it could rival the Red Sox hot market of 2004.”
first World Series title since 1980 and just their second overall.
MLB doesn’t give out sales numbers, Smith said. But one credit card company, Chase Card Services, said purchases of Phillies merchandise made with its cards doubled, from $80,000 to $160,000, on the day Philadelphia made the playoffs. When the Phillies won the NL pennant, the figure jumped from $108,000 to $271,000.
“As soon as they win the division, I’m online ordering T-shirts and everything,” said Hal Lublin, who spent another $350 on a jacket, authentic Ryan Howard jersey and shirt for his wife after flying in from Los Angeles for Game 5.
One retailer, Modell’s Sporting Goods, had matched its sales figures from the entire 2007 postseason before the first pitch was thrown for Game 5, Smith said. No surprise when you look around Philadelphia.
People everywhere are decked out in Phillies hats, jerseys, sweat shirts, T-shirts. There were so many fans wearing Phillies gear at last Sunday’s Eagles game it looked as if they’d taken a wrong turn in the parking lot that sits between Citizens Bank Park and Lincoln Financial Field.
Even Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was sporting a Phillies cap after the game.
ng blue World Series pullovers for himself and his 11-year-old son.
Lublin’s father, Bill, estimates he’s spent $600 on Phillies merchandise in the last few weeks, including the powder blue Mike Schmidt jersey he picked up a few days ago and the World Series pullover he bought before Game 5.
So much for the struggling economy.
“There’s nothing like demand that’s been put away for 30 years,” Smith said.
Rays fans may be new to this whole thing – not only is this the Rays’ first trip to the postseason in their 11 years, it’s their first season with a winning record – but they’re no slouches when it comes to spending.
Sales of Rays merchandise tripled this season, Smith said, and that number should continue to rise with young players like Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and David Price getting national exposure during the playoffs.
“It’s remarkable to sit in the stands and see 99 out of 100 people are wearing something (that says) Tampa Bay,” Smith said. “We just changed uniforms this year. That means they had to buy something in the last six months.
“It wasn’t like a bandwagon jumping on,” he added. “They hadn’t done anything yet but make the playoffs, and everybody was already wearing the stuff.”
And there is still more to come.
champions.
“Don’t wait,” Smith cautioned, “because it won’t be there long.”
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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston and Associated Press Writer Randy Pennell contributed to this report from Philadelphia.
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