The Knicks and the NBA are "scrambling to keep up with the demand for legal, licensed" Knicks G Jeremy Lin gear, according to Michael McCarthy of the USA TODAY. MSG Sports President Scott O'Neil said that sales at the team's online store, NYKnicksStore.com, are up 4,000% since Lin became an "overnight star." Lin also has had the "top-selling jersey at NBAStore.com" since starting his first game for the Knicks on Feb. 4. The Knicks have been the "top-selling club in merchandise sales at NBAStore.com and the NBA Store in Manhattan" since the same date. Knicks gear generated 50% of sales at the NBA's online and retail stores last week. But McCarthy warns consumers "should be wary of counterfeit merchandise and tickets." NBA Senior VP & Chief Intellectual Property Counsel Ayala Deutsch said that counterfeiters have been "hawking unlicensed Lin jerseys, T-shirts and caps across" N.Y., at the NBA All-Star Game in Orlando and in China and Taiwan (USA TODAY, 3/6).
GOOD DEAL FOR NIKE: Jeffries & Company Equity Analyst Taposh Bari said Lin's success “couldn’t have worked out any better for Nike,” as the N.Y. market is “starving for some good basketball.” Nike is already “selling out of their ‘Linsanity’ T-shirts that are on their website,” and Lin has a new sneaker which isn’t “even a actual athletic high-profile sneaker." While Lin does not have a signature shoe line at the moment, Bari said, "I would expect them to come out with something comparable to a Kobe or a LeBron or a Jordan at some point later in the year” ("Fast Money Halftime Report," CNBC, 3/2).
