The Business of Sports Merchandising

Madison Square Garden on December 23rd, 2023

A basketball game consists of four 12-minute quarters, making a regular NBA ball game last 48 minutes. However, if you go to an NBA game, you will most likely be in the stadium for more than two hours. The viewing time in a typical sports game, like Basketball, often doubles the actual playtime of the game due to sports merchandising– a technique utilized by sports marketers around the world to capitalize from the viewers. This article explores different examples of sports merchandising and how they are used in the sports industry.

The most common type of sports merchandising in any sports team is their logo. Thousands of sports teams around the world, from high-school teams to NFL teams, play with a jersey and a logo on top of it. While you may consider this to be an over-assumption of how sports teams seek to earn revenue, jerseys are the primary source of income. First, team logos and jersey bring more fans in. A relatively new sports fan would likely select a team with an impactful logo when choosing a team to support. Moreover, Jersey sales are a considerable source of income for the sports team. Imagine the revenue earned from the sales of a stadium packed with fans, all waiting in line to buy a jersey for 120 dollars. Lastly, money earned from sponsorship and endorsement deals are of great value to sports teams. For example, Chase, a global bank in New York, singlehandedly paid the Golden State Warriors 400 million dollars in exchange for the stadium's name for the next 10 years. This shows the significance of sponsorship deals to teams.

This is a video that we took during a half-time show at Madison Square Garden. Half-time shows are also a huge part of sports merchandising. Half-time, for most sports fans, is a chance to catch a bathroom break and maybe buy more hotdogs for the upcoming second half of the game. However, sports teams use half time as a chance to increase the value of tickets, and perhaps “pump” the price up to earn more revenue. Half time shows, especially for the NFL, are a culture in which famous entertainers perform to cheer the home team and entertain the sports fans. Last year, famous singer Rihanna performed in the half-time show for the Super Bowl, giving a 12-minute performance to the Chiefs and the Eagles fans. Bringing in famous artists like Rihanna enhances the value of the ticket for sports fans, and it increases the revenues earned for the teams.

As explained in examples above, sports merchandising is a way for sports teams to keep the show going on. As of 2024, we can expect more innovative ways of sports merchandising with the incorporation of advanced technology.