Chesapeake Energy Arena’s retail provider has been generating significant revenue outside the facility with a mobile unit selling Thunder merchandise in several Oklahoma communities. Gameday Merchandising, which operates the team store inside the arena, bought an old food delivery van and converted it into a mobile retail truck. Company President Alan Fey said it spent $50,000 on the truck conversion, while adidas, the NBA’s official apparel partner, pitched in to help pay for the truck’s graphics. This marks the first time Gameday has operated a stand-alone vehicle. In markets where it has retail deals, it traditionally sells merchandise out of a branded trailer that has to be towed behind a truck. Since Game One of the NBA Finals on June 12, the truck has traveled about 1,000 miles throughout the state, stopping at sports bars, shopping centers and neighborhoods to sell product and novelty items. The average transaction is $25, matching the team store’s per caps at the arena, Fey said. Fey: “People go crazy for it when it pulls up in their neighborhood. It’s literally like an ice cream truck.” The truck will be rebranded after the NBA Finals to sell merchandise for the U.S. Pro Cycling Challenge, Aug. 20-26 in Colorado, an event where Gameday has the retail exclusive. Fey called the truck “an asset we can bring to all our clients.”
