lebron Jerseys top selling in all sports

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King James

LeBron already on top in terms of merchandise
Posted: Friday August 01, 2003 4:05 PM
Updated: Friday August 01, 2003 11:23 PM

CLEVELAND (AP) -- LeBron James has already beaten Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd. Not on the court -- where James has yet to start his NBA career -- but in jersey sales.

James' jerseys are among the hottest items not just in NBA merchandise, but among all licensed sports apparel.

Enough No. 23 jerseys have been sold to fill the 20,000-seat Gund Arena four times with wine-and-gold clad fans. Sales totaled more than $4 million since the jerseys went on sale the night of the June 26 NBA draft when James was taken by Cleveland with the first overall pick.

"That's a pretty good feat for someone who hasn't played a game yet in the NBA," said Neil Schwartz, director of marketing for SportScanINFO. The company, based in West Palm Beach, Fla., tracks sales of sports apparel and footwear for the NBA and other clients.

Last week, James' wine-colored road jersey was No. 2 in sales among all licensed sports apparel. He was second to only his idol, Michael Jordan, whose Washington retro jersey topped the list. Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick's jersey ranked third, according to SportScanINFO.

"Phenomenal," said Jay Mininger, vice president of marketing for Dick's Sporting Goods, a chain of 151 stores in 27 states. "They are virtually gone. There's a couple left in each store."

Mininger said the sales are comparable to the run on Ohio State gear after it won national championship.

Part of the reason for the high sales figure is that at an average price of $43, the jerseys are basically twice the price of a typical sports T-shirt.

It wasn't that long ago that the mention of expensive jerseys meant trouble for James.

His senior year of high school included an investigation after he accepted the "throwback" jerseys of NFL Hall of Famer Gale Sayers and NBA great Wes Unseld from a Cleveland clothing store.

But now fans are shelling out top dollar for his name.

After years of Browns and Indians paraphernalia dominating the landscape in Cleveland, James jerseys are popping up all over town.

Ray Phillips, 16, said as a Cavaliers fan, he finally has something to cheer about with James. He said he bought a wine-colored road jersey last week because he said he liked the way it looked with his new pants.

Robert Young paid $53 Friday for the popular replica road jersey at Champs Sports at Tower City downtown. He said he will buy another one when the authentic, and more expensive, James jersey comes out later this year.

"I hope he can bring a championship to Cleveland," Young said.

Even if he doesn't, James has succeeded in making the Cavaliers marketable again.

"It's been unprecedented in terms of anything we've seen before," team president Len Komoroski said. "We've also had strong sales of Cavaliers merchandise in general."

They have jumped from 17th to sixth among NBA teams in apparel sales, according to SportsScanINFO.

"That's been propelled by one thing and one thing only," Schwartz said.

Ironically, the James jerseys are made by Reebok, not Nike, the company that signed the 18-year-old to a $90 million contract. Reebok is licensed by the NBA to produce them.

[MavsFanFinley]

Business Wire

Unsurprisingly, a new number one atop the jersey market

Rookies LeBron James, 18, and Carmelo Anthony, 19, didn't take long to become the NBA's hottest sellers.

James' No. 23 Cleveland Cavaliers jersey and Anthony's No. 15 Denver Nuggets jersey, respectively, are the top-selling jerseys so far this season based on combined merchandise sales from the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and the NBA Store on NBA.com.

The teen-agers have also boosted their teams' once-sagging sales. The Cavaliers are the third-most popular team in terms of merchandise sales, and the Nuggets are fifth. Both franchises won 17 games last season.

The Mavericks, who advanced to the Western Conference finals last season and finished in the top 10 in merchandise sales, dropped out of the top 10.

Behind James and Anthony in player jersey sales are Orlando's Tracy McGrady and Philadelphia's Allen Iverson. Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant remains a popular choice at No. 5.

Dirk Nowitzki is the top-selling Maverick at No. 20, followed by Michael Finley at No. 21 and Steve Nash at No. 25. No surprise, the Lakers are No. 1 in teams sales, followed by the Sixers, Cavaliers, Knicks, Nuggets, Celtics, Nets, Bulls, Magic and Spurs.