Colts, Saints Fans Snapping Up Merchandise Ahead Of Super Bowl

Colts AFC Championship Merchandise Selling Quickly

Sales of Colts AFC Championship merchandise in the Indianapolis area both in stores and online "were strong in the 24 hours after the playoff game victory" over the Jets Sunday, according to a front-page piece by Jeff Swiatek of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Marc Harnist, Manager of the Colts Pro Shop location at Circle Centre Mall in Indianapolis, said it was "crazy in here all day" yesterday. Harnist: "If it's got Colts on it, it sells." Harnist was replacing $24 AFC Champion T-shirts "on the rack with a new batch after the lunch hour rush." MainGate COO Bruce Lynch, whose company handles merchandise sales for the Colts, said that the Colts Pro Shop at Lucas Oil Stadium "racked up its best-ever game-day sales Sunday, topping the previous best day" by 15%. MainGate "had AFC champion T-shirts and caps for sale in Lucas Oil Stadium immediately after the game Sunday evening," and Lynch said that the "sellout crowd bought every one of the thousands of T-shirts MainGate had pre-ordered." The two Colts Pro Shop stores "opened at 7 a.m. Monday, three hours earlier than usual, and Dick's Sporting Goods' eight Indianapolis stores stayed open extra late Sunday, to 10 p.m., and opened extra-early Monday at 7 a.m." (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/26). The INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL's Anthony Schoettle reported sales at the Lucas Oil Stadium shop Sunday were "so strong, the stadium shop stayed open until 11 p.m., about five hours after the game ended." MainGate officials "expect sales of team items leading up to this year's Super Bowl to be more than 10[%] higher than they were" ahead of the Colts' appearance in Super Bowl XLI in '07 (IBJ.com, 1/25). USA TODAY's Rick Jervis reported at the Circle Centre Mall Colts Pro Shop location yesterday, Colts "caps, jerseys, steering-wheel covers -- most anything emblazoned with a Colts logo -- were breezing off the shelves" (USA TODAY, 1/26).

WHO DAT NATION STEPS UP: In Louisiana, Zack Southwell reports Saints-themed merchandise "sold briskly immediately after" the team's win over the Vikings in Sunday's NFC Championship. Heath Williams, Dir of an Academy Sports & Outdoors location in West Monroe, Louisiana, said that sales after the game "were outstanding." Williams: "I'd say we had about between 2,000 and 3,000 people in here last night. As soon as the game ended, we opened up our boxes of championship gear." Williams said that the "line of customers was outside the store, making the wait at least three hours long." Monroe-based Sports & Co. Manager Donald Payne: "We still have some shirts left. But it didn't take us long to sell out of some sizes" (Monroe NEWS-STAR, 1/26). New Orleans' WDSU-NBC reported the Geaux for the Gold store in Slidell, Louisiana, yesterday was "packed" with Saints fans "looking for gear." The Metairie, Louisiana-based Black & Gold Shop also "did brisk business and was gearing up to do more." Black & Gold Shop Owner Pam Randazzo: "We're talking about collector's items. We're not just talking about the T-shirts. We're talking about collector pins, balls, house items. We're talking about everything" (WDSU.com, 1/25). In Shreveport, Bobbie Clark reports local retail stores "were bombarded with merchandise-hungry ... Saints fans." Items were "flying off the shelves so fast that some stores had to restock before noon" (SHREVEPORT TIMES, 1/26).

Saints' NFC Championship Win Firing Up Fans Across South Mississippi

DELTA DELIGHT: In Biloxi, Michael Newsom reports the Saints' win Sunday "fired up" fans across South Mississippi as well, as yesterday they "hunted in area stores for merchandise and store managers reported brisk sales of Black and Gold NFC championship gear." Matt Smith, Dir of the Academy Sports & Outdoors in Gulfport, Mississippi, said that he "arrived at 5 a.m. Monday to help get the merchandise set for fans when the store opened an hour early at 7 a.m. to a small line of eager customers." Tony Berutti, Manager of a Biloxi-area J.C. Penney location, said that he "estimates the store sold about 200 Saints T-shirts by mid-afternoon" yesterday. He added that the "NFC championship 'locker room' gear, which is similar to the hats and T-shirts the players [were] wearing after the game, was popular there" (Biloxi SUN HERALD, 1/26). Meanwhile, WLBT-NBC's Bert Case reports the Saints' win "has unleashed an unprecedented demand for Saints merchandise" in Jackson, Mississippi. Merchandisers "have never seen anything like it, there is a greater demand for the Saints jerseys, T-shirts and caps, than they have been accustomed to." The demand is "greater than the demand for Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Jackson State gear" (WLBT.com, 1/26).