As a sports fan, I can say that sometimes walking into a sporting goods store is a feeling similar to a child on Christmas morning. There’s nothing better than going to a place that is a full array of fanatic goods and apparel. Probably the most popular way a true sports fanatic represents their loyalty to favorite teams and players is through the purchase of jerseys. A sports fan can show their love of teams and players in an variety of ways but nothing beats impersonating by wearing a jersey.
Jerseys can be found for any player on any team. They are most popular across the MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL leagues as they are the most popular sports within the United States. Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the most popular destinations for fans to go as they offer a wide selection.
Leanna Silverio has been working in the sports retail industry for over 10 years now. She has currently been a store manager at Modell’s for 3 years after spending the previous 4 years at Dick’s. I recently was able to get some of her time and questioned her regarding procedures and practices. Especially when it came to the athletes that got into trouble and how the stores further reacted.
“We have to pull them off shelves” were the exact words she said when asked about the jerseys of those players. She then further went on to note how to company has a reputation to maintain just like the leagues do. “Customers are aware of what goes on and what happens” further meaning that selling player’s jersey in which has a bad image is also bad for business.
At Modell’s, the term Fan Zone refers to the fan apparel department of the store. According to Leanna it is the most popular part of the store and it is also responsible for a huge part of the stores earnings on a weekly basis. She further described how most customers come into Modell’s looking for jerseys and how it is the area of the store that experiences the most restocking. When asked about Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson, I was told that all Modell’s stores were required to ship back jerseys of the aforementioned players. “They were both popular players, but their images were tarnished.
After the video leakage regarding the Ray Rice case, the Baltimore Ravens created a jersey exchange program in which a fan can turn in their Rice jerseys for another player on the Ravens. Regarding the Adrian Peterson case, Nike stopped the production of jerseys immediately following the news of child abuse. According to a report on CBS Sports, both of these players were in the top 30 for jersey sales for the 2013 season just a year ago.