It’s one thing to root for a team. It’s quite another to wear a team. And fans of every competition from the NFL to e-sports are doing it in droves.
Team jerseys, hats and caps, tee shirts and hoodies, even footwear – all logoed with the colours of favourite teams and the names of top players – contribute to a fan-fuelled windfall that generates more than $4 billion in merchandise sold each year.
The boom in team-following gear is not restricted to clothing worn by fans.
Attend an NFL game, pre-party in the parking lot - a tradition known as tailgating, where barbecues are fired up for burgers and dogs, kegs are tapped for beer, and pies get sliced up for dessert (often they are filled with fruits that reflect team colours, such blueberries for the Giants and cherries for the Arizona Cardinals) – and you will see no shortage of logos.
They’re plastered on cooler bags, portable grills and even the cigars that fans might enjoy smoking.
Clearly, attending the game is not enough. Super-fans show loyalties through team-approved gear hours before the kickoff. Such was the case this past December when the family of the Giants’ QB Tommy “Tommy Cutlets” DeVito set out a spread in the parking lot before a Giants game.
It included fresh mozzarella, trays of pasta and, of course, fried chicken cutlets. Logos for the Giants were almost as prevalent as the grub itself.
Unlike the tailgating gear, there are treasured goods that never come close to making it out of the house. Fans who are sufficiently bankrolled to turn their passions into investments drop small fortunes (and sometimes large ones) on collectibles related their teams and players of choice.
Sports-world collectibles and memorabilia do not come cheap. For example, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle trading card went for $12.6 million dollars in 2022.
“Sports collectibles are finally getting their due as an investment,” Derek Grady, executive vice president of sports auctions for Heritage Auctions told CBS News. “The best sports items are now starting to rival artwork, rare coins and rare artefacts as a great investment.”
On the more affordable level, and going beyond apparel, fans are also showing their colors with team-branded smartphone cases.
How better to log onto 888, place a bet on, say, one’s beloved, front-running 49ers to take down the NFC championship than from a smartphone swathed in the team’s red and white SF logo?
And it’s not just the merch for mainstream sports aimed at traditional fans that is blowing up. Taking a cue from the likes of Chiefs boosting Taylor Swift, women are donning team-branded tights, tops and PJs.
One company’s even putting out a Chiefy looking jersey with Travice Kelce’s number 87 on it, Swift on the back and a reconfigured Chief’s logo with TS in it. That way, female fans can root for Taylor Swift and her superstar boyfriend at the same time.
Looking toward the future of game-playing, followers of e-sports have not been left out of the merchandising fray. Fans of e-sports are getting into wearing their own colours and showing the teams they support.
The League of Legends favourites, 100 Thieves, has put out jerseys, windbreakers, hats and even golf-bags so cool that they actually sell for elevated prices in the after-market, just like in-demand Supreme goods.
Fans of team logoed gear have their own YouTube star in the person of Cameron “Scooter” Magruder who dons team colours and goofs on them.
He’s got some 600,000 followers and clearly strikes a nerve in ardent sports fans. As to why they like him and the apparel so much, he told the New York Times, “I’m just a mirror. I’m only reflecting how fans feel.”
These days, of course, they feel like showing off team-pride in all aspects of their lives.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
