Redskins Merchandise Sales Up Before Late-Season Playoff Run

Portis Jersey Sales Up 124% During Season

Sales of Redskins merchandise at “outlets not owned by the [team] shot up significantly this season,” according to Josh Drobnyk of the WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL. The team declined to discuss figures at their own retail operations. But SportScan Info indicated that sales at other outlets “jumped 15[%] percent in 2005 and were up 60[%] in the first two weeks of this year.” Reebok VP/Team Properties Eddie White said that because the Redskins “got off to a 5-6 start, any sales boost from the playoff run won’t show up until the company gets its sales report next month.” Sales of the team’s on-field apparel “lagged in the early part of the season,” down 10% from ’04. The best-selling item through December 20 was RB Clinton Portis’ No. 26 jersey, for which sales rose 124% this season. Drobnyk adds that sales of Redskins merchandise at Modell’s Sporting Goods’ 13 DC-area locations “jumped 25[%] in November and December and had doubled through the first two weeks of this year” (WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/20 issue).