Fanatics is heading into Super Bowl LIV after seeing its best sales ever for the two NFL conference champions, with the Chiefs and 49ers beating the previous record set by the Eagles and Patriots ('17 season) by more than 30%. Sales are up 115% over last year (Patriots-Rams). The Chiefs have been without a championship for 50 years. The 49ers last won in '95 and were the league’s top seller for most of their run of championships in the '90s. Fanatics has exclusive rights for Super Bowl championship products and any items using the Super Bowl logo with those of the competing teams. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes -- the NFL’s top-selling player since both the start of the regular season and Playoffs -- had his best-ever sales day across Fanatics on Championship Sunday (previous best was Black Friday). For 49ers RB Raheem Mostert, a surprising four-TD performance in the NFC title game led to selling more product on that Sunday than the entire regular season combined. Overall, the top selling players since Championship Sunday are Mahomes, 49ers TE George Kittle, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, DE Nick Bosa and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce.
MARKET MATTERS: Fanatics co-President of Global Direct-To-Consumer Retail Jack Boyle said the Chiefs and 49ers are tracking about the same in sales, both with a chance to possibly surpass Fanatics' largest Super Bowl market, from the Eagles' Super Bowl LII victory. Hard-goods licensee FOCO Founder & CEO Michael Lewis recalled both K.C. and S.F. performing well in the '90s, when he was with Apex. He said, "Per capita, no market spent more than K.C. on the Chiefs." Lewis added, "If Kansas City wins, it's going to rival the Cubs World Series hot market as the best ever." NFL VP/Consumer Products Rhiannon Madden said, "We’ve seen that young quarterbacks, like Mahomes ... and Garoppolo develop their own followings, independent of team loyalty." NFL interim Consumer Products Head Joe Ruggiero said, "After record sales for our championship weekend, we’re naturally optimistic about Super Bowl sales."
Plenty of Super Bowl LIV products are South Florida-themed with pastels shades of pink and turquoise47 BRAND
TIME TO SHINE: The league has 80 NFL Shop locations in high-traffic areas and hotels to meet demand, including 35 in and around Miami. At the top of that pyramid is the 30,000-square-foot NFL Shop at the Super Bowl Experience, operated by Aramark. Vineyard Vines has tripled the size of its “store within a store” there. Other licensees with significant presences there are Nike, '47 Brand, WinCraft, and New Era. Customization is being offered by '47, Build-A-Bear, Outer Stuff, and FBF. In a nod to South Florida, there are plenty of products employing pastels shades of pink, peach and turquoise.
