Maybe all the NFL licensees on the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center would have made more profitable use of their time at the sports books on the nearby Strip, because they were clearly clairvoyant. Seattle and Denver, the two teams every licensee was touting as being the best matchup for licensing sales, were indeed the Super Bowl finalists.
What we didn’t realize until the show was in addition to being a front-running team all year, Seahawks-branded merchandise has been selling well all year — and not just in the Pacific Northwest, but across the country. We talked to retailers from Texas, Chicago and Florida who all said they’ve been unable to get sufficient Seahawks merchandise all season long. Of course, one reason was the team’s stellar record from the beginning of the season (an 11-1 start), but in addition, the Seahawks’ neon green color, sort of an electric lime, has been trending nationally. At the show, you could find that vivid shade on everything from
New Era ski caps to
Tervis tumblers.
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Licensees said Seahawks-branded merchandise has been selling well all year.
All photos by: TERRY LEFTON / STAFF
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“Seattle’s obviously new to the party, but they really have started to get some national appeal,” said
John Sabo,
Fanatics senior vice president and general manager.
“Denver had a big year last year, but Seattle has really grown this year as a national property,” said Leo Kane, NFL senior vice president of consumer products. “If the Seahawks were to win, they’d be at the top of the [sales] list, which doesn’t usually happen to teams that don’t have multiple championships.”
For fall, New Era was looking to extend the spectacular two-season success of its NFL knit caps by selling a Seahawks pom-cap with the unexpected fashion twist — turquoise blue and pink, and decorated with palm trees (see photo).
“That ‘action green’ colorway is blowing out everywhere,” said Stu Domanowski, New Era director of fan gear.
While most licensees were hopeful that New England would not return to the championship in fear of consumer burnout, in the Pacific Northwest, “Fans are starving up there more than most cities, so the retailers there have been jumping on board,” said Marck Brock of Hunter Manufacturing, which was showing licensed ceramic and hard plastic versions of the traditional red plastic Solo cup, long a tailgating standard.
> NO VIDEO CHANNEL: An unexpected result of the lawsuit settlement between former collegiate athletes and EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Co. has been that IMG’s CLC has been left without a video-game licensee for 2014 — the first time in 21 years it won’t have an NCAA-licensed console game. Considering that at one point, video games were the largest individual CLC category and Electronic Arts was CLC’s largest licensee, “that’s a considerable revenue void, so we’re shopping hard for a new licensee there,” said Dave Kirkpatrick, CLC vice president of non-apparel marketing, who added that CLC growth should come from licensing the marks for the developing college football playoff system.
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The Stanley Cup-designed popcorn popper has been a hot seller.
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Outside of video games, hard-goods sales grew 4 percent last year, he said, led by collectibles (up 53 percent), footwear (up 15 percent), housewares and sporting goods.
> CUP CRAZY: When we first spotted
Pangea Brands’ popcorn maker fashioned after a Stanley Cup at the NHL’s licensing show this summer, we thought it had a great chance to catch on as a novelty, but wondered about its $99 price tag. Turns out that was no barrier for consumers seeking the perfect holiday gift for hockey fans.
Pangea’s Jeremy Kelley said his company sold a million dollars worth of Stanley Cup poppers over the last two months of 2013. Of course, that’s already made Pangea think about other Stanley Cup products. Sure enough, up next from the company that brought you the Pro Toast sports logo toaster is a Bluetooth speaker fashioned after the NHL’s championship trophy and using the same mold as the popper.
> SIGN LANGUAGE: While the popularity of “man caves,” in which the requisite giant HDTV is surrounded by licensed products and sports memorabilia is well documented, a plethora of products at the show showed us that now signs marking the territory are de rigueur.
Licensed “Man Cave” and “Kid Cave” signs were everywhere, including the always-fetching retro designs from Winning Streak Sports, the heavy-gauge metal from Authentic Street Signs, and WinCraft’s endless variety of hard goods.
Turns out all those placards have restrictions from various properties on their sign language. Trying to avoid confusion with its Fan Cave in New York City, MLB had told its licensees for the past few years that it would not license “Fan Cave.” Now sign makers have permission, but the signs must include the words “Fan Cave” along with “Man Cave,” which seems just to add confusion.
Meanwhile, MLB and other properties will allow signs proclaiming the “Nations” of the Red Sox, Yankees and whichever. However, if you’re an NFL licensee, the only allowable “nation” is for the Oakland Raiders.
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Game Face is hoping fans will go for their “full face tattoo,” while Hunter offers a fold-up pet bowl.
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> LICENSING LINES: Sunglasses have joined cellphone accessories as the most overlicensed items at the show. The NFL has started to shed cellphone accessory licenses, so we assume that means others will follow. With many of the cellphone cases stressing fashion over function, they have become more like T-shirts. We continue to like
Mizco’s offerings in this area, and as noted they were among the first to market with licensed “Power bank” backup cell batteries, and Bluetooth speakers. … Winners of the “never seen a license on that before” award go to NFL-licensed
Steel Cubes’ “freezable metal ice cube replacement,” the fold-up pet bowl from Hunter, and
Game Face’s temporary “full face tattoo,” which grew out of a “Shark Tank” investment by
Mark Cuban.
Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
