Phillies Fans Purchasing World Series Gear In Record Numbers
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Sales Of World Series Gear Marks Biggest
Event In Modell's Sporting Goods History |
Philadelphia-area sporting goods stores Thursday opened before daybreak to "lines of championship-starved Phillies faithful eager for [World Series] memorabilia," according to Stacey Burling of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Modell's Sporting Goods CEO Mitch Modell said, "It is clearly the single biggest event in the history of our company, which is pretty amazing." Modell said of Phillies fans, "When it's 28 years of not having a championship, they can't get enough. They just can't buy enough merchandise. I've never seen anything like this in my life." Burling reports T-shirts and sweatshirts with the slogan, "Phinally," which retail for $20-50, were the "big sellers" at Modell's. MLB Senior VP/Licensing Howard Smith said that the "'greatest hot market ever' involving selling associated with the World Series" was when the Red Sox won in '04, but so far Philadelphia "rivals that." Smith: "The pent-up demand is like none other." Burling notes MLB ordered "hundreds of thousands of 'clinch' hats, the hats Phillies players wore just after they had won the game," and they were "selling out" Thursday (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/31). Modell: "It has been nonstop, we literally have trailers of goods coming in every 30 minutes and as fast as it's coming in, it's going out." Modell also said that the company "hired private planes to fly the goods in from Alabama for distribution" to each of the store's 26 Philadelphia-area retail outlets (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 10/31).
GRAND SLAM: In Philadelphia, Paul Vigna reports while the two-day delay of World Series Game Five "might have given Phillies fans angst, it turned into a blessing for some of the retail outlets." Modell's District Manager Derrick Morgan said that the store was "expecting to sell the basic world-championship gear" for a day or two. But Morgan noted, "We actually ended up with more because of the game getting split up the way it did." Clothier Forman Mills Dir of Advertising & Marketing Chris Streahle said the feeling following the Phillies' World Series-clinching win Wednesday night was "so strong and intense that it really didn't matter what it was." Streahle said fans were "buying T-shirts, anything that said 'champion' on it" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 10/31).
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Marketing Expert Sees Cole Hamels As A Good
Fit To Sponsor Health Or Grooming Products |
COLE BLOODED: Phillies P Cole Hamels has inked an autograph deal with Mounted Memories. As part of the deal, Hamels will appear Friday on QVC for a World Series special (Mounted Memories). Phillies RF Shane Victorino and Baseball HOFer Mike Schmidt will appear along with Hamels on QVC (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/31). Hamels also read last night's Top Ten list on CBS' "Late Show" (THE DAILY). Meanwhile, Baker Street Partners VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman released his annual World Series Sports Marketers’ Scouting Report, in which he awarded an "Extra Base Hit" to Hamels, who is a "cool choice for any health-related product, organic grooming product, or fashion line." Phillies 1B Ryan Howard earned the only "Home Run” rating, as he "stands to benefit the most from his first ring." Howard could "pitch any powerful product -- from trucks to power tools, PCs to smart phones." He also is a "solid long-term investment, and given today's economy, he might be available for a bargain" (THE DAILY).
SOMETHING IN THE ITALIAN BMT? Howard appeared on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning" Friday, where his commercials for Subway were discussed. Howard said, "I’m actually over here hanging out with my man, (Subway spokesperson) Jared Fogel, making sandwiches right now. Jared’s kind of the good luck charm I think. Michael Strahan, Kimmie Meissner, Tony Parker -- we all did commercials with him and wound up winning championships, so he might be the missing link right now” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN2, 10/31).
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