Official World Series gear "is flying off the shelves" in the Boston area, with stores "receiving shipments, in some cases every hour, of freshly printed hats and shirts rushed in from across the country," according to Jasper Craven of the BOSTON GLOBE. Red Sox Team Store GM Scott Saklad said, "All the printers were working late last night, and now we are trying to get it transported here." The most popular items are "so-called 'locker room' gear, the apparel worn by the bearded brigade" during Wednesday night’s postgame celebration. Many stores, "anticipating a World Series win for the Sox, had ordered smaller shipments of World Series gear that were on the shelves by the time the series ended." That gear "quickly sold out." Olympia Sports manager Sarah Toro said that in addition to the gear "proclaiming the team world champions, one of the more anticipated items ... is a shirt featuring David Ortiz spraying champagne with the tagline 'Popping Bottles'" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/31). In Boston, Donna Goodison notes in terms of merchandise sales, new players "are now marquee names among many fans who didn’t know them two weeks ago." The Marketing Arm Exec VP/Sports Jordan Schlachter said, "Everybody across the country might not have known [P Koji Uehara, RF Shane Victorino or OF Jonny Gomes]. It gives an opportunity for other ‘sub-brands’ of the Red Sox to get more national attention." Modell's Sporting Goods CEO Mitch Modell said, "It’s bedlam. It’s bigger than 2007. They love the Red Sox, and the town is starving -- particularly since what it went through six months ago." Goodison notes a third World Series win since '04 is "a marketing bonanza that puts the Red Sox back on track for a new string of game-sellouts, including charging premium prices for hot series such as those against their arch rivals, the Yankees." The Red Sox "confirmed they're considering" a move to "variable and/or dynamic ticket pricing" for the '14 season (BOSTON HERALD, 11/1).
MOST VALUABLE PAPI: Baker Street Advertising Senior VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman in his annual post-World Series marketability report notes Ortiz is "perhaps the only one from this Big Show who could carry a national campaign." His current endorsement income "is in the neighborhood of $3-4M a year, and could see a $1M yearly bump following his remarkable Series performance." Meanwhile, Uehara will "make serious marketing yen in his native Japan" (THE DAILY). Data from online retailer Fanatics showed that sales of Ortiz gear in N.Y. have "jumped a whopping 100 percent since the Red Sox won the pennant" (BOSTON HERALD, 11/1).
