But in this 2012 season, when the club’s run of on-field success has come to a sudden, screeching halt, the falloff in those sales has mirrored the deterioration of its won-loss record.
According to SportsOneSource, a Maine firm that monitors the sale of sports-related merchandise at outlets other than ballparks, the purchase of Phillies-related products has declined by 60 percent.
“They’re still No. 2 behind the Yankees,” Matt Powell, the company’s chief retail analyst, said Friday. “But their share of the market has fallen from 16.2 percent to 8.9.”
Even at the ballpark, though the team does not release such figures, Phils officials conceded they’re selling less of practically everything but the quirky Phanatic caps and Carlos Ruiz merchandise. “We’re down. Definitely,” said Scott Brandreth, the team’s director of merchandising. “Our fans know when we’re not playing well, and that affects the sales numbers.”
The Phillies aren’t the only team suffering a sales slump. Through July, Powell noted, MLB’s merchandise sales were off 25 percent from a year ago.
“Some of the big teams, the Phillies and Red Sox in particular, are having down years,” said Powell. “And the teams that are having good years, like Texas and Washington, just don’t have the fan bases.”
According to Ira Mayer, whose Licensing Letter charts sports-licensing developments, such a large decline is unprecedented in a baseball season not interrupted by a labor dispute.
“Historically, if those figures are accurate, it’s never happened,” said Mayer.
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1. McCoy Wilfong for Money Posted: August 20, 2012 at 10:03 AM (#4212395)YR will love this part:
Who the hell buys a machete because Bear Grylls endorses it?
Idiots?
Edit: Shooty's answer applies here as well, of course.
No great mystery here: the economy is slowly heading into the sh*tter again, people instinctively know it, and so people are watching their spending more carefully now.
Well why do *you* buy a machete??
Would anybody buy a machete that was endorsed by Ugueth Urbina?
We hit the deer and his paw... What do you call it? The paw.
It got caught in the grill. I got to hack it off.
For general use, or...?
I would only buy a machete endorsed by Ugueth Urbina.
I honestly don't know what most economists think, but I personally don't think most economists really have much of a clue of what they're talking about. Was there a bevy of economists warning us in the spring and summer of '08 that the Great Recession was about to hit? Not to my recollection. And frankly, if these economists are so smart and know which direction the wind is blowing, why aren't more of them making a killing in the markets?
Both teams' markets are top 10; the Rangers' apparent lack of success is perplexing, given their two straight AL pennants. (Washington is rather nouveau riche where contending baseball is concerned.) Perhaps, unlike the Phils and Bosox, those teams haven't marketed well beyond their home base; I don't know how the Rangers are marketed in rural Texas, but I do know here in Lynchburg you rarely see people wear Nationals caps, at least compared to Redskins gear. Moreover, MASN isn't carried on Comcast here, and while the Nationals' radio network lists an AM and FM affiliate in town, I've never heard them carry a game. In contrast, they religiously carry NASCAR each week.
Now that DOJ is reluctant to charge Jon Corzine, he's starting a hedge fund. Anyome want to invest? Does he have the Wilpons on his speed dial?
He'll find some suckers!
Did you keep the receipt? I really hope you kept the receipt...
Please tell me he's not going to put everything in European government bonds again.
Given the difficulty of prognostication, why are you so convinced of your forecast?
I didn't really make a "forecast", and I'm certainly no Warren Buffett, or even close. But tell me, do you honestly believe that a 25% decline in MLB merchandise sales can be attributed solely to the fact that a couple of teams have declined this year?
Papelbon was right. These people really are smart.
I bought an CD with Edith Piaf's picture on the front. I regretted nothing.
Oh, jesus -- I agree with something Joey said.
I should have my red diaper taken away.
I agree that most economists don't have a clue, but when I'm trying to guess who is more clueless, I look at the economist political party. I mean if the group you hang with 1. deny evolution, 2. deny global warming. 3. have a factually distorted history of marriage 4.ignore multiple releases of a public document(like a birth certificate) 5. have a Palin or Trump on your side.....I feel pretty safe thinking that you can't really be right about anything.
I would only buy a machete endorsed by Ugueth Urbina.
Says the guy named Hack
It's too tough to fit them over their John Deere caps.
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