During the 24-hour period after the Cavaliers' NBA Finals win, sales of championship gear across Fanatics.com, NBAStore.com and the NBA Store in midtown Manhattan were up 100% compared to the same period after the Warriors' win in '15. Cavs fans have purchased more gear to-date following the championship (less than 48 hours) than Warriors' fans did in a full week's time in '15. Additionally, Fanatics has already reported a championship record for mobile sales, eclipsing the CFP title game earlier this year (73% of total sales vs 68%) (THE DAILY). Cleveland-based Fresh Brewed Tees President & CEO Tony Madalone said that the company "set an all-time sales record for all vendors at Cleveland Hopkins Airport." He said, "We've done six figures in sales since the game ended. We saw similar demand to when LeBron [James] came home. But this will be much longer and sustainable." ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted some of Fresh Brewed Tees' most popular T-shirts read "God Loves Cleveland" and "Two Won Six," a reference to the city's area code (ESPN.com, 6/22). In Cleveland, Janet Cho noted local T-shirt companies "are printing new NBA Championship designs as quickly as they can, and hint that some new designs could be created for the citywide celebratory parade" today (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/21). Also in Cleveland, Troy Smith noted Nike has "unveiled the 'Nike Dry LeBron Champion' T-shirt on its website." It features James' arm and hand "holding up a championship ring with the Nike swoosh smack dab in the middle" (CLEVELAND.com, 6/21).
RAISE THE FLAGS: Sherwin-Williams yesterday announced Nike's "football-field-sized" banner of James will "go back up on the wall of its Downtown Cleveland world headquarters this fall." But "instead of dismantling and recycling the 10-story-tall banner, Nike will resurrect" James' banner at an undisclosed date some time this fall, just before the Cavaliers start their next season (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/22). In Cleveland, Allison Carey notes city native Aaron Schwartz has created "Cavs themed timepieces from Modify Watches." They "range from $50 to $75" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/22).
GET YOUR COPY! The Plain Dealer "printed 175,000 extra copies of Monday's commemorative paper, followed by another 300,000 more on Monday afternoon after the first batch sold out." More copies of Monday's paper will be available outside the Plain Dealer production facility (CLEVELAND.com, 6/21).
