Supply of NFL Jerseys Dwindles as Super Bowl Approaches
The New York Giants and the New England Patriots played in the Super Bowl four years ago, when Eli Manning led the underdog Giants to one of the greatest Super Bowl wins in National Football League history. This week, the two teams landed in Indianapolis, the site of Super Bowl XLVI, in preparation for a rematch of that exhilarating game.
Tom Coughlin of the Giants and Bill Belichick of the Patriots remain the head coaches in this matchup, and Eli Manning and Tom Brady remain their starting quarterbacks and team leaders. But many of the key players in this matchup are new to the teams and to the league. Victor Cruz received the third most yards in the league for the Giants, and Rob Gronkowski caught 17 touchdowns, tying a record for the most touchdowns by a tight end.
"There aren't really a lot of us coaches and players who were involved in that game, and very few players, in relative terms, between both teams," Belichick on the similarities between the upcoming game and the one just four years ago.
But there is one huge difference regarding the fans' involvement and contribution to the game: some fans may find it difficult to locate in stores their favorite player's jersey, most likely one of those new players, to wear with pride during the game. The reason is that there currently is a shortage of NFL jerseys around the league.
The supplier of NFL official team jerseys will switch from Reebok to Nike in April of this year. In preparation for the switch, Reebok has minimized its inventory of official licensed jerseys, and although sales for most teams' jerseys are relatively low the week before the Super Bowl, fans of the two teams who will be dueling next Sunday are demanding jerseys at increasing rates.
"Reebok is intentionally running out of product," said Matt Powell, an analyst for SportsOneSource Group, which is responsible for tracking sales of licensed sporting goods apparel.
Powell did bring some good news to these consumers who long to support their favorite NFL players. Because of the diminishing rate of Reebok's yearly sales, down to $350 million this past year from $500 million the year before that, fans will most likely find the jerseys they want on sale.
The shortage may be causing alarm amongst some fans the week before the Super Bowl, but others are very optimistic about the switch from Reebok to Nike. And the demand for commemorative T-shirts and caps proves to be much stronger before the Super Bowl than jerseys.
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