Super Bowl Marketing: Steelers Win Could Set Sales Record

Steelers Could Set Merchandise Sales Record With Super Bowl Win

Marketers at the SGMA’s Super Show in Orlando last week said that merchandise sales “could hit an all-time high if the Steelers win” Super Bowl XL, according to Terry Lefton in this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The previous high came after the Packers’ win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. NFL Senior VP/Consumer Products Mark Holtzman said the Steelers “have deep roots and a national following, so if Pittsburgh does win, this could be our biggest Super Bowl ever. Unless the Bears got in, we couldn’t have had a better scenario from a licensing perspective. The Steelers sell more licensed product within their 75-mile radius than, I believe, any NFL team. ... We could eclipse the all-time MLB marks with the [‘00] Subway Series and [‘04] Red Sox championship.” Team Beans/Forever Collectibles President Michael Lewis said, “This would eclipse our best hot market (Red Sox World Series) by [40-50%] and would be the biggest championship product we ever had” (SBJ, 1/30 issue).

FLYING OFF THE SHELVES: ESPN’s John Clayton said demand for Seahawks merchandise in Seattle is “absolutely insane. Right now, all the stores that are stocking anything that’s Seahawk or Seahawk colors are selling out almost as they’re coming off the trucks” (ESPNews, 1/27).

MAN, I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN: NFL VP/Consumer Products Susan Rothman said women’s products will generate 15% of the over $130M of expected sales from Super Bowl XL apparel, an increase from 2% for last year’s game. USA TODAY’s Mike McCarthy reports those projections are in line with the regular-season numbers for women’s apparel, which accounted for about 15% of the $3.4B in total merchandise sales during the ’05 season, up from 3% last year. Reebok VP/Team Properties Eddie White said that a female-cut jersey retailing for $55 “has already jumped into Reebok’s list of top five best-selling products for Super Bowl XL,” the first time that has occurred (USA TODAY, 1/31).