Team shops sold 3,500 Nike men’s T-shirts in the first hour after the Warriors' Finals clincherRANK + RALLY
Team shops at Oracle Arena sold 10,000 NBA Championship gear items in the first hour after the Warriors' NBA Finals sweep on Friday night, according to Rank + Rally which operates Warriors Team Stores. Team shops sold 5,500 New Era hats, 3,500 Nike men’s T-shirts and 1,000 Nike women's T-shirts, all with NBA title themes. The Warriors hosted a Game 4 watch party at the arena, and fans were able to buy championship gear immediately after the game. Rank + Rally is the retail arm of Levy Restaurants. It reported per cap retail sales were 76% higher for the Warriors' sweep of the Cavaliers than they were for the watch party when the Warriors beat the Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals (Mike Sunnucks, Staff Writer). In S.F., Megan Cassidy noted Warriors fans on Saturday "lined up for the team store like a theme park ride," with some turning up at Oracle Arena at sunrise. Store employees "knew it would be a day on their feet." They carried in "load after load of merchandise, and by the afternoon no one could be sure how much was sold" (SFGATE.com, 6/9).
CAPITAL GAINS: In DC, Andy Medici noted Google Trends showed Capitals merchandise interest has "boomed since the Caps started their playoff run, culminating with a massive spike" as the team made it to and won the Stanley Cup Final. Searches "spiked by a factor of 10 in the last month, and searches for 'Washington Capitals merchandise' is higher than at any point since Google began collecting the data" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/8).
