The NFL from April 2-30 will open a pop-up store in N.Y. to mark the launch of its new apparel partnerships, with Nike and New Era, and the '12 NFL Draft. The 10,000-square-foot NFL Shop At Draft will sell merchandise from NFL licensees including Nike, New Era, Under Armour, GIII, VF and Wilson. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell along with current and former NFLers will participate in a ribbon-cutting event on Monday at 10:45am ET. Goodell will then work as a store employee from 11:00am-noon (NFL). AD AGE's Rich Thomaselli noted on April 3 in Brooklyn, Nike will "unveil all 32 team NFL jerseys at an invitation-only event." Several execs familiar with the NFL-Nike deal, finalized in Oct. '10, said that Nike is "paying between $1 billion and $1.5 billion for its five-year agreement to be the league's official uniform and on-field apparel provider, as well as to produce sideline-personnel apparel and fan gear." SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell said that Nike "could make half of that back in year one." Powell: "Reebok did about $500 million (annually) at wholesale at the height of the deal, and last year did probably half of that, what with retailers winding down and nobody wanting to get stuck with product. With the new uniforms, and refilling the pipeline, Nike could do as much as $750 million this year." Meanwhile, New Era "took to social media to launch its new affiliation with the NFL, creating a Facebook page that asked fans to like the page in order to see the new NFL Draft caps that players will wear to the podium after being selected." The page "has more than 1 million likes" (ADAGE.com, 3/25).
