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Cubs title could push licensees to the limit

The Cubs have the longest championship drought, but all four MLB survivors have gone more than 20 years without a title.
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MLB’s most visible on-field licensees are looking at the potential of a record playoff haul.

Even before the playoffs, the signs were encouraging. Longtime exclusive jersey rights holder VF Corp.’s Majestic Athletic reports that jersey sales were up an astounding 60 percent during the regular season. Majestic introduced a new fabrication of its Cool Base authentic jersey this year, with a slightly elevated price point and better performance features, offering a new product story for retailers.

Still, VF Licensed Sports Group President Jim Pisani attributed the sales boom more to the influx and accomplishments of young MLB stars, like Kris Bryant with the Chicago Cubs, Matt Harvey with the New York Mets and Josh Donaldson with the Toronto Blue Jays. Having big-market teams in the pennant race, of course, also always helps sales, and the postseason numbers are clearly boosted by the presence of teams from Toronto, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

“It’s been new stars, new teams in contention, new designs, and enough domestic manufacturing to chase the business,” Pisani said. “Chicago and New York have been strong, but so have markets you might not necessarily anticipate, like Toronto and even Houston.”

New Era, which has long held MLB’s on-field cap rights, said its regular-season numbers were comparable to 2014. However, as of press time, New Era’s 2015 postseason “hot market” sales were posting a hefty 86 percent increase over last year.

Sports licensing veterans have always predicted that no MLB championship could surpass the sales bonanza that would be generated by a Cubs World Series victory. The Cubs’ last championship was in 1908. Accordingly, New Era’s “if-win” orders, contingent on a Cubs World Series, are four times that of any other team still in the playoffs.

“Honestly, I’m not sure we could keep up with the demand that’s forecast,” said Tony DeSimone, category director for baseball at New Era, “but we’ll chase it hard.”

However, another licensing maxim is “there’s no demand like pent-up demand.” So while the Cubs have their 100-plus years of frustration, keep in mind that the Mets’ last parade was in 1986, the Dodgers’ in 1988, the Blue Jays’ in 1993, and the Royals’ in 1985.

Some team is going to win that hasn’t won in decades.

And there are other complexities to consider.

“We’re managing through playoff scenarios involving the Cubs, Mets, Dodgers and Blue Jays,” Pisani said with a laugh last week. “Guess what? They’re all royal blue.”

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