Phillies-Yankees Series Could Provide Huge Boost To Merch Sales

By Terry Lefton, Editor-At-Large

Phillies-Yankees World Series Could Set Merch Records

Most of the 140 stores in the Modell’s chain are in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, where most fans of the Yankees and Phillies live. So to say that CEO Mitchell Modell is pleased to have the Phillies and Yankees competing in the World Series is an understatement. “When Don King has two fighters in the same boxing match, he can’t lose, and that’s the way we feel,” Modell said. Whereas a year ago Modell said that if the Rays wins, “I’m on suicide watch,” this year either team will produce a bountiful crop. “This should be the biggest event we’ve had outside of the (‘00 Mets-Yankees) Subway Series,” Modell said. Licensees are equally optimistic. “Its going to be one of our top five, maybe even one of our top two markets ever,” said Jim Pisani, president of VF Licensed Sports Group’s Majestic Athletic brand, which has rights for MLB jerseys and the championship locker room T-shirts. “The (Phillies’ potential) repeat has a lot of appeal and the Yankees are the biggest franchise with a global following, so it feels like we can’t lose.”

HOT HOT HEAT: The Red Sox’ ‘04 World Series title, Boston’s first in 86 years, set the standard for MLB hot markets. However, there are some early indicators that this year’s World Series could establish its own record. MLB Senior VP/Licensing Howard Smith said that current “if win” orders for Yankees World Championship caps exceed those placed at the same time before the Red Sox’ championship -- which yielded an astounding total of 1.6 million caps sold. Smith: “But we're sold out (of the until-production run) of caps regardless of who wins. Last year, if one team won (Phillies), we wouldn’t have had enough, and if the other team (Tampa) won, we would had way too many. This year, we won’t have enough either way.” As for the relative merits of a Phillies- Yankees matchup for merchandise sales? The Yankees obviously have the larger fan base, and Smith said that the 26-time World Series champions’ nine-year drought was equivalent to the pent-up demand any other MLB franchise would experience if it had not won in 20 or more years.

Phillies Cap Sales Up 35.2% From Last Year's World Series Run

TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW: Matching the merchandise glut catalyzed by the Phillies’ first title in 29 years will not be easy, but Modell refuted earlier reports of soft sales compared to last year after the team’s NLCS victory. “We didn’t plan it this way, but Philly is very strong -- stronger than last year,” said Modell. Citing sales through MLB’s Divisional Series, Smith noted that Phillies cap sales were up 35.2% from last year. While sales of Phillies T-shirts were down, of the eight teams that qualified for the MLB playoffs, Phillies shirts were the top seller. Smith: “My expectations for if-wins on the Phils last year were awesome. This year they are merely ridiculous." Michael Johnson, Dir of Marketing for VF’s Licensed Sports Group, added, "The second year is always down some and fans start thinking they don’t need if it is not World Series (apparel).” Johnson's company's plans for Series apparel include Liberty Series, Turnpike Series and I-95 Series apparel, along with around 50 different championship T-shirt designs. There also will be orange T-shirts for Yankees-Phillies Game Three on Halloween with player names and numbers. Johnson: “It should still translate into a big number for us, whichever team wins.”