March 31, 200521 yr If anything is "juiced" these days, it's baseball merchandise. Gross retail sales of licensed products are up by almost 100 percent in the first part of the year compared to the same period last season, according to Tim Brosnan, executive vice president of business for Major League Baseball. Thread count TOP 15 BEST SELLING JERSEYS OF 2005 (Alphabetical order) Carlos Beltran, Mets Barry Bonds, Giants Miguel Cabrera, Marlins Roger Clemens, Astros Eric Gagne, Dodgers Nomar Garciaparra, Cubs Vladimir Guerrero, Angels Derek Jeter, Yankees Randy Johnson, Yankees Pedro Martinez, Mets Mark Prior, Cubs Albert Pujols, Cardinals Alex Rodriguez, Yankees Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers Curt Schilling, Red Sox Jason Varitek, Red Sox Source: Majestic Athletic "It's in part due to the fact that we had fans with a lot of pent up desire, supporting a team that hadn't won the World Series in 86 years," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's president and chief operating officer, referring to the Boston Red Sox. According to SportsScanINFO, a retail tracking firm, licensed headwear is up 79 percent, with the New York Yankees and Red Sox making up 53 percent of total licensed merchandise sales. At this time last year, Red Sox gear made up 12 percent of all merchandise sold. This year, that number has jumped to 21 percent, said Neil Schwartz, SportsScanINFO's director of marketing. "People might be talking about steroids and Barry Bonds, but baseball seems to be Teflon," Schwartz said. "Whatever comes their way, they seem to be able to absorb it." Although a Turnkey Sports Poll last month reflected that the ongoing Red Sox-Yankees rivalry would be the third most important story in baseball (10.5 percent), behind discussion about steroids (59 percent) and Barry Bonds' pursuit of the all-time home run record (17.7 percent), fans of the two American League East powerhouses are talking with their wallets. "All the talk about how the steroids dialogue will affect the game is speculative and anecdotal," said Faust Capobianco IV, president of Majestic Athletic, the exclusive vendor of jerseys, outerwear and fleece products. "Merchandise sales are quantitative." Gross sales of Major League Baseball licensed apparel are expected to pass the $3 billion mark this season. It has been estimated that both the NBA and the NFL also annually surpass the $3 billion number. Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espn3.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2027064
April 2, 200521 yr certainly nice to see cabby up on that list 725519[/snapback] You do realize that there are 16 names on the list posted in this thread. If you actually click the link and look at the list there are (rightfully) no Marlins on the list.
April 3, 200521 yr The increased sales probably had to do with a few factors: -Bandwagon Red Sox fan gathering up new threads to fit in -Fans of teams that were active in getting stars in FA -Baseball caps just sell ridiculously high amounts
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