Summer of Fan Love - NBA Jerseys Sales Expected to Hit Record Heights

By Brian Sanders

This summer we will see how the long anticipated NBA free agent class settles into new teams. Marquee players like LeBron, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare, Boozer and more are wooed by teams like Cleveland, Miami, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Washington. While some of them will win over these stars, some may even land two, there will definitely be winners and losers after the dust settles. However, I can safely predict that there will be one true winner, and that's the NBA store, which will have a record season for selling authentic NBA jerseys. Allow me to tell you why.

Let's look at the main driver behind jersey sales - the best players. These ballers usually account for most of the sales. As anyone may expect, Kobe sells a whole lot more jerseys than Sasha Vujacic. Examining closely the top sales for 2009-10, the crown was Kobe's #24 jersey, closely followed by the previous season's MVP, LeBron James. I'm predicting with great confidence that LeBron is going to win that numero uno position in 2010-11. There are two cases for him: either he stays with the Cavs or he bolts. In either case, he will have a new jersey because he just filed a petition to don #6. And since he's going to be number 1 and driving all these sales, even in the unthinkable situation where everyone else stays put and all other jersey sales remain the same, LeBron's new jersey sales will propel the total sales above past years.

Even without LeBron, the whole class of free agents this summer will still shake up the sales charts. There are some pretty big names that will attract hordes of existing and new fans to purchase NBA apparel. These stars include Wade, Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, and many more. While some of them will make it into the chart for the first time, some of them are already there, like Wade at number 5 and David Lee at number 13. If they could do it once, they'll certainly repeat that when they switch teams.

Finally, expect the playoffs to draw attention to budding superstars. Last year's playoff series between the Bulls and the Celtics catapulted Derrick Rose into the national limelight, driving his jersey to a stunning 4th position this year. We can predict similar movements for Kevin Durant, and perhaps Gerald Wallace, who will lead young teams into the playoffs for the first time. These young but talented players will grow into bigger stars during the playoffs and drive up sales for NBA jerseys.

When the excitement of the playoffs and free agency shuffle settle, we can rest assured that some big winners emerge. The NBA will see record sales in authentic NBA jerseys. And a huge number of fans will be donning on new jerseys showcasing their new franchise stars. - 31494

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