Thursday, February 15, 2007

Super Bowl Losers' Gear

Have you ever wondered what happens to all of the t-shirts and hats that say "Chicago Bears: 2007 Super Bowl Champs" after they lose the game? They have the hats and t-shirts available right after the game so they have to produce them for both teams without knowing who the eventual winner will be. Here is the answer:

By order of the National Football League, those items are never to appear on television or on eBay. They are never even to be seen on American soil.They will be shipped Monday morning to a warehouse in Sewickley, Pa., near Pittsburgh, where they will become property of World Vision, a relief organization that will package the clothing in wooden boxes and send it to a developing nation, usually in Africa.

This way, the N.F.L. can help one of its charities and avoid traumatizing one of its teams."Where these items go, the people don’t have electricity or running water," said Jeff Fields, a corporate relations officer for World Vision. "They wouldn’t know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn’t even know about football."

(Source: The Sports Economist)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have always wondered about this...One thing i noticed this year is that they also print the newspaper before too with both teams rejoicing on it. I didnt actually see this but you know because they bring the paper out right after the game. I think what they do with the clothing is a smart thing to do. It is pretty cool that they can do something that really benefits all parties. The winning team gets the hats, the poor get the clothing which is charity at the same time, the clothes are nice(especially the hats), and the losing team never sees them. Another way to give away that clothing could be to sell it to the crazed fans of the losing team. They might buy it and pay a large sum for it because they are fanatics and want something rare. The money that they make from selling this clothing could be given to the poor in Africa too. The money could be more beneficial to them as well just like giving money at christmas like we discussed in the first chapter.
-Austin Lintault

Anonymous said...

It's funny because I asked my dad the same question when The Colts won the Super Bowl. I thought that making all those clothes saying "Bears win the Super Bowl" would be extremely inefficient. Although, the producers can't predict who will win, so it seems necessary. The great thing is the producers are making all this clothes that won't receive any profit, but they are able to get the winning teams clothes out right away and provide a poor country with materials that are majorly beneficial to them. It is really a perfect scenerio. Austin makes a good point. He says that the money they could receive by selling the clothes could be more beneficial to the poor country. Anyway, the question on what happens to the Bears shirts is answered and it seems like a good one to me. The poor country is probably extremely pleased with all the clothes anyway. Plus the NFL looks good in donating all the clothes.
-Morgan Hale

Anonymous said...

I knew that both teams had gear produced after a large game, and i have always wondered about the gear. It is a very philinthropic thing for gear companies to do to send they losing team gear to a poor region. Of course now i wonder what would happen if in some way the gear got transported to US soil. Would the nfl or gear company sue? what if the person who brough it immigrated from the poor region to th US? Could they be sued too? Dont get me wrong i think it is great what they are doing, but how serious are they about not allowing the gear to come back into the public's eye? Also on an economic stand point the gear companies, while doing charity, need to make sure they are not hurting an existing clothing industry in the region

seth

Anonymous said...

Well I actually never have wondered about this but now that you mention it, it is a good question to address. I think that is a great thing that the NFL does this to support developing nations. Though this wouldn't really benefit the american economy; I think that in the long run, helping poorer countries establish themselves could possibly benefit ourselves in the future. All in all, I think it is a very good idea to put to use these items that most likely will not be bought after the team has lost instead of letting them go to waste.
-Alex

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea, shipping the shirts, and hats to a developing country will rid the losing team of any embarrasment, and will help to clothe people that are suffering. The companies that produce the shirts whether it is the losing team or the winning team make so much profit during the Superbowl that i doubt printing the shirts and giving them to charity is hurting them economically. So many millions of americans buy Superbowl paraphernalia, and it is hard for me to believe that they could possibly lose any money. I agree that giving the shirts to charity gives the company a good name, but do we even know what company it is? I don't. The NFL may get a good name for doing this, but do most people even know that they do it? I do agree that it is a good idea and should be continued.
-Hope J

Anonymous said...

I have also wondered about this before. I always thought the clothing and such must get destroyed after the game before anyone could see it, but obviously that would be a very inefficient thing to do. I disagree with Austin because though sports enthusiasts might pay large amounts of money to buy the gear printed for the losing team, I think it is disrespectful to both teams involved. The Colts would clearly be mad if they saw people walking around with t-shirts that said "chicago bears the 2007 super bowl champs" and the Bears would most likely be ashamed that they couldn't pull out a win for their fans, but yet their fans were parading a lie across their chests. It lessens the glory of winning if the losers can get paraphanilia that says they won too. Since the people in Africa have no clue a) who the colts and bears are b) what the super bowl is or c) who actually won, it seems to be a perfect solution. Happiness of everyone (the NFL, the losing team, the winning team, and the people in developing countries) is maximized. The Bears and Colts keep their pride, the NFL feels good knowing they helped a charity, and the people in Africa are happy to know that they have a new shirt. If only giving away utils was always as easy as passing out super bowl t-shirts...
~Natalie~

Anonymous said...

I think this is a wonderful idea. It is very beneficial to those in need, and I'm sure that even if they did know anything about the Super Bowl it wouldn't matter. I think they would just be happy that they have new cloths rather then worrying about who actually one. I was wondering, though, what happens to those newspapers that Austin was talking about.. recycled I hope and the companies that mass produced the "loser" gear. I'm guessing and hoping that they don't lose profit from it and that its the Super Bowl that is giving up their profit to these developing nations. It gives a new outlook to football.
-Danielle Lunetta

Anonymous said...

When I read this im in the same boat as Austin. I have also never really thought about what happens to the stuff that would be given to the other teams. If it would be a deadweight loss in America, why not take it to other countries where clothes are really needed and it does not matter what logos appear on their shirts. I think that this is a great idea and it is helping to clothe citizens of the developing nations and the NFL is actually doing a good deed ehre. Though im a bit skeptical on whether or not they should tell the country they are doing a good thing by selling the losing teams "could be" merchandise. But anyways I really like this idea and I believe that only good can come from this. I do kind of want a Chicago Bears 2007 Suberbowl Champions shirt though...


-Nick Wellmon

Anonymous said...

no wonder the super bowl or world series gear is so expensive. they have to somehow gain from their losses of producing both teams.

Unknown said...

Super Bowl Streaming