TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Super Bowl Merchandise Still In Demand At West Shore Outlet

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 3, 2009

TAMPA - In the face of a lagging economy, the business of the Super Bowl isn't bogged down. The NFL Super Bowl outlet, opened in November next to WestShore Plaza, stood nearly empty Tuesday morning, two days after Pittsburgh beat Arizona, and people still streamed in.

Where once there were two wide rooms full of merchandise, now there is only one, with a depleted selection of T-shirts, jackets, sweatshirts and pennants.

Steve Sodell, owner of Sports Fan Marketing, which contracts with the National Football League to sell its gear in Super Bowl cities, said this season was the third best among the past seven he has hawked football wares. Detroit in 2006 was the best. Jacksonville, a year before, was a close second.

"Detroit was when the economy was at its peak," he said. "Plus, Detroit is such a huge sports city."

The winners of that game: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"Jacksonville had never had a Super Bowl before, and the local fans ate it up," he added.

That game was won by the New England Patriots.

In Tampa, he said, "sales exceeded our expectations."

"The local fans got excited, and they wanted to come in and buy a piece of history," he said.

Most of the merchandise this year went to Steelers fans who attended the game Sunday and stopped by the store Monday to spend whatever cash they had left, he said, many making his shop the last stop before heading to the airport.

Sodell said there was no need to slash prices yet, as people continued to stream in. On Tuesday morning, Sodell bought the remaining inventory from a competitor and moved it onto his shelves.

T-shirts went for $20 and up, Sweatshirts were priced at about $50 or higher, and jackets were even more expensive.

The highest priced items were Varsity jackets with Super Bowl patches and commemorative 36-by-48-inch plaques with Super Bowl replica game tickets, including a highlighted ticket to Sunday's game,. The jacket and plaque each cost $300.

"We've sold a few of those," he said.

Mostly, people were buying items that cost between $5 and $50, he said. That included clothes, footballs, glasses and posters.

Sodell said he has opened 17 locations throughout the Tampa Bay area, and the shop at West Shore and Kennedy boulevards is the highest-selling spot. That doesn't include the NFL Experience store outside Raymond James Stadium and run by the league.

"Right now, about 97 percent is sold out," Sodell said of his merchandise. "We're anticipating closing the store by Friday."

By the end of this week, Sodell will head to Miami, the site for next season's Super Bowl.

"I have to work on next year's locations," he said.

Inside the shop, Joann Villella of Elizabeth, Pa., pulled on a black Steelers shirt and asked her husband, Jerry, how it looked.

The couple, die-hard Steelers fans, came to Tampa a week ago to visit their daughter, who lives in St. Petersburg. They weren't able to get tickets to the Super Bowl.

"We watched the game at a Steelers bar," Joann said.

The couple ended up buying a jacket and the shirt Joann had tried on.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT