NFL officials are projecting $65 million in sales this year from the league's catalog business, extending a growth pattern that executives say should continue.
The catalog, NFL Shop, is scheduled to arrive at 2.2 million homes later this week, marking the start of a new season of sales. NFL Shop last year generated $57 million in revenue.
Perry Cooper, the NFL's director of database marketing, said sales of more than $100 million are possible by 2006. Should sales hit the conservatively estimated $65 million mark this year, $100 million could be attained with an average annual growth rate (15 percent) far less than what the organization has seen in recent years.
Cooper said circulation initiatives and continued television exposure will make the desired growth possible.
The NFL has a long-standing partnership with Sports Illustrated and Time Inc., allowing the league to tap into a database of roughly 10 million names and access information on their avidity and team preferences. Only recently, however, has the NFL had the technological capabilities to bundle that list and several other databases from licensees and partners into a centralized repository.
"How we profile and quantify the names is pivotal," Cooper said, adding that plans call for mailing 10 million catalogs during the 2003 season, with that annual volume increasing to 15 million by 2006.
The league comes out with a new catalog for each team, and one for the league, each month during the season. Consumers whose favorite team is entered in the NFL Shop database receive a catalog with a player from that team on the cover and more pages featuring the team's merchandise.
Direct sales from the catalog drive only about 15 percent to 20 percent of total sales for NFL Shop. Sales through Home Shopping Network, one of NFL Shop's licensing partners, provides another 15 percent, Cooper said. The balance comes from online sales at nfl.com, nflshop.com, hsn.com and footlocker.com.
Foot Locker, the second of NFL Shop's two licensing partners, is entering the final year of its contract with NFL Shop. No agreement to continue the relationship has been reached.
Most online customers are driven by television promotions, Cooper said. He said the league, which last year ran more television spots promoting NFL Shop than ever before, plans at least as many this year.
NFL Shop's success hinges first and foremost on the continued popularity of the league, Cooper said.
"Everything ultimately generates from the epicenter of how rich and how competitive our sport is," he said. "Without that, our business wouldn't be flourishing as well as it has been in the recent past."
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sold the most gear through NFL Shop during the 2002 season, which includes the two weeks after the Super Bowl.
The club did $2.7 million in online sales from Jan. 26-Feb. 8, moving from No. 7 leaguewide in sales to No. 1. For the year, the Bucs accounted for 11 percent of total NFL Shop sales.
More than half of the sales of Bucs products came from consumers outside Florida, Cooper said.
