NFL licensees and their retailers are pulling hard for the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. The appeal of a back-to-back championship and the Seahawks' superior retail draw after winning last year has "if-win" orders for the team ranging 30-40% more than the Patriots, via licensed sports e-commerce specialist Fanatics GM John Sabo. Many producers of NFL licensed goods said orders for Seahawks championship merchandise are trending 2-1 or better. "New England fans will buy hard if and when they win," said Sol Werdiger, founder and CEO of NFL lead kids apparel licensee Outerstuff. "But the story so far has been pretty much Seattle."
With a heavy dose of snow, sleet and rain forecast for the East beginning tonight, licensees now are worried about delivering championship product to retailers in a timely fashion. "The Seahawks look stronger, be it if they win, but we think the Patriots would have long legs, because it has been ten years since they won," said NFL Senior VP/Consumer Products Leo Kane. "Overall, we were comping New York numbers through Wednesday. Likely we won't do that for the entire week, but we look to be past forecast."
