NHL Merchandise Sales

[King Woodballs]

Hi all!

I was wondering if there is any info out on how the NHL teams are doing in terms of merchandise sales.

I did a search on here and came out with nothing.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

*mods* if this needs to get move or closed go a head.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Someone with greater knowledge will correct me, but I'm pretty sure teams only profit from

A) 1/30th of the royalties paid by the manufacturers (Reebok, New Era, Majestic, Mitchell & Ness, etc etc.) to the league to produce official goods
B) All retail sales made by the team themselves IE: Team gift shops in the arena, team owned stores
C) 1/30th of all retail sales from shop.nhl.com

So if I buy a jersey at Dick's Sporting Goods, the team doesn't see any of that money directly.

 

[kdb209]

Someone with greater knowledge will correct me, but I'm pretty sure teams only profit from

A) 1/30th of the royalties paid by the manufacturers (Reebok, New Era, Majestic, Mitchell & Ness, etc etc.) to the league to produce official goods
B) All retail sales made by the team themselves IE: Team gift shops in the arena, team owned stores
C) 1/30th of all retail sales from shop.nhl.com

Correct.

There are two streams of revenue w.r.t. merchandise sales.

1. Revenues from Licensing Fees paid by the manufacturers. Those go to the League through NHL Enterprises, Inc and are treated as Centrally Generated League Revenues - a portion may be used for Revenue Sharing, the rest is divided evenly among all 30 teams.

2. Revenues from retail sales (and profits from retail markup). Those go to whoever actually sells the merchandise. If it is sold at a concession stand or team store, the money goes to the team (modulo the team's concession agreements). If it is sold at Wal-Mart, it goes to Wal-Mart. If it is sold by NHL.Com, it goes to the NHL, again as Centrally Generated League Revenues.

So if I buy a jersey at Dick's Sporting Goods, the team doesn't see any of that money directly.

Yup.

The League already got it's licensing fees from the manufacturer.

Dicks gets to keep the retail markup - what they sold if for minus their cost from the wholesaler/distributor

The team gets zero, nada, zilch, ... (other than their 1/30th cut of League merchandise licensing revenues).

 

[King Woodballs]

Thanks for the info guys.
I didn't really know allot of that.

What I was really wondering, is if there are any totals out, showing how many merch products have been sold by each team.

eg: how many jerseys, shirts, has, etc.
I am thinking not, after reading what you guys posted.
I dont know if the NHL teams or the NHL themselves would be able to keep track of those type of numbers.

 

[LadyStanley]

When Bettman does his "state of the league" speeches (i.e., @ ASG, SCF), there is often a huge press release that lists a bunch of stats. Sometimes those include specific merchandise $$s or %s. But I've never seen a specific breakdown by type of merchandise (nor team).

 

[Fugu]

I don't think the league has ever released a total merchandise sales figure. Even in the Levitt propaganda piece, you have In-arena revenues, which may include merchandise sales during games, and "Other Revenues" for the NHL-wide merchandise and sponsorship.

Bettman and the league will release percentage growth in merchandise sales, or which jerseys rank in the top ten, but no actual dollar figure is attached--- afaik.

 

[Mungman]

This is the reason that TNSE has now opened a new mall outlet here in the Peg. They've got a larger location now at St. Vital Mall (2nd largest mall in the city) that will carry a full line of merch and I've heard will be selling game worn merch in the future. I fully expect at least one more (probably 2) locations in the city (Polo Park Mall and ???? (probably in a supercentre in the northern part of the city)). They'll want to maximize their footprint to get as much of the merch revenue for themselves. River City Sports has been making a HUGE push for selling Jets merchandise, I've gotten a glossy 8-10 page flyer from them dedicated to Jets merch (maybe 1 page of football and other NHL ads). The mall the new Jets Gear store is in is right across the street from one of the River City locations, TNSE has the better location and is taking on the competition head to head.

 

[King Woodballs]

I don't think the league has ever released a total merchandise sales figure. Even in the Levitt propaganda piece, you have In-arena revenues, which may include merchandise sales during games, and "Other Revenues" for the NHL-wide merchandise and sponsorship.

Bettman and the league will release percentage growth in merchandise sales, or which jerseys rank in the top ten, but no actual dollar figure is attached--- afaik.

I am not so worried about $$$ figures
I was mainly interested in qty of stuff sold


thanks again too all for the info!

 

[cheswick]

Correct.

There are two streams of revenue w.r.t. merchandise sales.

1. Revenues from Licensing Fees paid by the manufacturers. Those go to the League through NHL Enterprises, Inc and are treated as Centrally Generated League Revenues - a portion may be used for Revenue Sharing, the rest is divided evenly among all 30 teams.

2. Revenues from retail sales (and profits from retail markup). Those go to whoever actually sells the merchandise. If it is sold at a concession stand or team store, the money goes to the team (modulo the team's concession agreements). If it is sold at Wal-Mart, it goes to Wal-Mart. If it is sold by NHL.Com, it goes to the NHL, again as Centrally Generated League Revenues.



Yup.

The League already got it's licensing fees from the manufacturer.

Dicks gets to keep the retail markup - what they sold if for minus their cost from the wholesaler/distributor

The team gets zero, nada, zilch, ... (other than their 1/30th cut of League merchandise licensing revenues).

So there is no royalty fee per jersey sold for example? It's just the money paid by vendors to lciense the merchandise?

 

[kdb209]

So there is no royalty fee per jersey sold for example? It's just the money paid by vendors to lciense the merchandise?

The license fees, paid by the manufacturers or distributors, typically include an up front fee for the use of the League trademarked IP plus a per unit fee for each item manufactured/sold. The cost of those license fees are then passed up the retail chain to the wholesalers and retailers.

 

[nyrmetros]

How are Rangers jersey sales going?

 

[Nordskull]

Is there a way to know the sales by team? Probably not.

 

[not a trapdoor]

Is there a way to know the sales by team? Probably not.

Sure, but you'd probably need to speak to Reebok/CCM or one of the guys running their factories in Montreal or Jakarta.

They'd probably be able to tell you that they produce 30 Pittsburgh (25 of them #87!), 40 Leafs, 40 Habs and 2 Lightning for every Coyotes jersey - or whatever the breakdown actually is. It wont perfectly correlate to the sales numbers of course, but supply will be based on expected demand.

This would ignore heritage jerseys, but (aside from the Nords & to a lesser extent, Jets), I don't expect those numbers are all that significant in the scheme of things.

 

[King Woodballs]

Bit of a thread bump but wasnt going to start anything new
Just read this tweet

@JillMacyshonCTV

NHL won't give hard numbers, but says WPG Jets jerseys "a top five team seller". Rivalling jersey sales for Leafs & Canadiens.#SellJetsSell

I guess that answers my question.
The NHL doesnt really give out hard details

 

[nyrmetros]

Why won't the nhl let us know what jerseys are selling???

 

[Mayor Bee]

Why won't the nhl let us know what jerseys are selling???

For the same reason that your tax returns aren't a matter of public record.

 

[mucker*]

For the same reason that your tax returns aren't a matter of public record.

Bad analogy.
We are talking individual vs. a public business institute.
Don't see why releasing sales is different than releasing ticket sales or ratings.

Someone with greater knowledge will correct me, but I'm pretty sure teams only profit from

A) 1/30th of the royalties paid by the manufacturers (Reebok, New Era, Majestic, Mitchell & Ness, etc etc.) to the league to produce official goods
B) All retail sales made by the team themselves IE: Team gift shops in the arena, team owned stores
C) 1/30th of all retail sales from shop.nhl.com

So if I buy a jersey at Dick's Sporting Goods, the team doesn't see any of that money directly.

Wouldn't the NHL team get the revenue from the retailer "purchasing" the shirt to sell?

 

[mucker*]

Speaking of which, I am concerned.

I saw two kinds of shirts I wanted this spring, but wanted to wait until I got extra money at the holidays to buy. Now, I can't find them anywhere in stock, and am very worried they have been discontinued.

Is this just a temporary understock or am I SOL on these two:

Speewick Player Shirt

and Reebox Authenic Player and Team T-shirt

Can't find them for any team...

 

[FlyerCub]

I've seen Winter Classic versions of the bottom shirt for Flyers players at the local mall so the design is still out there.

 

[mucker*]

I've yet to see any of the Rangers (l live out of market).
I am going to be so mad if they stopped making both shirts.
I wanted them and said "wait" until the holidays.

 

[Mungman]

Wouldn't the NHL team get the revenue from the retailer "purchasing" the shirt to sell?

Nope, all merch licensing is league revenue not team.

I know someone who formerly bought Moose Merch from TNSE, this year they have to go through the league directly. The team only gets more than their 1/30 share from their own stores like Jets Gear.

 

[Mayor Bee]

Bad analogy.
We are talking individual vs. a public business institute.
Don't see why releasing sales is different than releasing ticket sales or ratings.

In the case of ticket sales and ratings, it's for the purpose of providing information that would drive up the price of advertising on NHL or on team broadcasts, thus increasing the revenues. Notice that the NHL and teams only provide attendance numbers, not revenue numbers derived from ticket sales.

 

[blues10]

Bit of a thread bump but wasnt going to start anything new
Just read this tweet

@JillMacyshonCTV

I guess that answers my question.
The NHL doesnt really give out hard details

Here is the full story with video.

NHL officials say Jets jerseys are among the top sellers in the league, ranking in the top five and rivalling sales of merchandise for teams such as Toronto and Montreal.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/l...ets_jerseys_111229/20111229/?hub=WinnipegHome