The Phillies' licensed MLB merchandise reached an "estimated total sales of $812 million" in '11, but with the team's run of on-field success coming to a "sudden, screeching halt, the falloff in those sales has mirrored the deterioration of its won-loss record," according to Frank Fitzpatrick of the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. A year ago, of the "$5 billion business" done with the sale of licensed MLB merchandise, the Phillies "accounted for an astonishingly large share, 16.2 percent." Only the Yankees "surpassed" the Phillies' sales figures. But with the team struggling in '12, SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell said that the "purchase of Phillies-related products has declined by 60 percent." Powell said, "They're still No. 2 behind the Yankees. But their share of the market has fallen from 16.2 percent to 8.9." Fitzpatrick noted if the 60% figure for "non-ballpark sales continues through the end of 2012, the yearly total for the Phils would be about $487 million, a decline of $325 million from 2011." Assuming a 100% markup and a 10% team royalty, "the team-licensing revenue generated by the Phillies products would dip from $81 million to $48 million." Phillies Merchandising Dir Scott Brandreth said, "We're down. Definitely. Our fans know when we're not playing well, and that affects the sales numbers." Powell noted that through July, MLB's merchandise sales "were off 25 percent from a year ago." He said, "Some of the big teams, the Phillies and Red Sox in particular, are having down years. And the teams that are having good years, like Texas and Washington, just don't have the fan bases" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 8/20).
