Daily News | Phillies set a record for selling most championship series merch in 24 hours
“Philadelphia has some of the most passionate fans in all of sports, and their response to the National League Championship Series clinch on Sunday following this improbable playoff run has been remarkable,” with “record-breaking sales” to mark their first World Series trip in 13 years, said Jack Boyle, a senior Fanatics executive.
Top-selling items logged by Fanatics for that day-and-night period include Fanatics’ own Phillies men’s “locker room championship shirts” like the ones the Phils put on Sunday night after beating the Padres in Game 5 to clinch the series. Other items were the matching hats made by another company, New Era; the women’s version of the locker room shirt; New Era’s World Series Patch hat; and a pullover Phillies hoodie made by Fanatics under a Nike contract.
The privately held company declined to say how many items it has sold but added that Phils’ fans set records for both the volume and the value of merchandise acquired within that first 24 hours. Fanatics, which is based in Jacksonville, Fla., has merchandising deals with Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NCAA and other team sports groups.
It also makes Major League baseball uniforms used by more than 2,000 pros, under a deal with the league and Nike.the unionized Majestic Athletic plant in Palmer Township, near Easton, Pa., which at the time employed 600. The deal came after Major League Baseball players and their union pressed owners to ensure shirts would continue to be made in the U.S.A. even if the league changed uniform brands.