Where the Name of The Game is Sales Sports Licensed Products at Sports Stores

Sports jerseys and baseball caps are hardly formalwear. But even by the casual standards of licensed team merchandise, Martin Wilson has seen a pandemic shift at On The Field, his Seattle sports emporium. “Loungewear is definitely the trend this year,” he said, noting that Americans are staying home and dressing down. “Pajamas and sweatpants are selling two to three times as much as they were before.”

The store is still open for in-person shopping, so game day traffic drives sales. When the Seahawks are playing, team jerseys and beanie style hats fly off the shelves. Baseball caps and inexpensive T-shirts do well during Mariners games, while Sounders soccer fans scoop up jerseys and team scarves for their matches.

Few places are as football mad as Lincoln, Neb., where Best of Big Red sold 1,500 Cornhuskers licensed hats during home games last season. “We sell a ton of headwear,” said Joey Rupp , manager and buyer for the two store locations. “Hats are just a thing guys like to wear.” Styles range from popular trucker hats, ball caps and knit bucket hats to the adjustable fits that make men devotees. “A lot of hats look like they’re fitted, but they’re actually just one size,” noted Rupp. “Ours actually come in sizes, and guys like that.”

Ladies also buy hats, but they don’t stop there: licensed team apparel in feminine styles are such a trend that Best of Big Red’s downtown location devotes half its retail space to a women’s boutique. “Crop tops have been very popular,” Rupp reported. Women have also snapped up sweatshirts and other tops in this year’s trendy corded fabric, like a softened version of corduroy. “It’s an old fashioned, ‘70s style fabric, and it’s started coming back,” Rupp noted. “It’s very comfortable. We keep selling out.”

Best of Big Red has a secret weapon when it comes to official team merchandise: legendary former Huskers coach Tom Osborne is the owner’s father. “We can get Tom to sign stuff for us anytime,” said Rupp. Helmets, footballs and other memorabilia are among the top sellers, some signed by baseball and basketball coaches as well. The store’s walls are lined with plaques crafted from 1990s stadium turf — nostalgic, one-of-a-kind souvenirs of the decade when the Huskers won three national football championships.

In Mississippi, the Biloxi Shuckers team store is open by appointment for fans who want to peruse the merchandise in person. Most sales these days at the