The Loser's Merchandise

At the end of the Super Bowl, or any championship game for that matter, it takes only moments from the time that the last seconds tick off the game clock until the victors have donned their "championship" attire. All of that merchandise is printed in advance, of course. The contractors who produce all of those items don't hedge their bets on one team or another. They print sufficient merchandise for either team so that their hats and t-shirts are ready to go regardless of the outcome.

So what happens to the the merchandise with the loser's logos on it?

In a recent post on the The Sports Economist, we learn where it goes. The short of it is that it is never ever sold, and instead collected in a warehouse where it is later sent abroad to the world's poorest countries. The charity organizations that do the logistics make it a point to send the clothing to places where few have even heard of American sports, let alone be aware of which team won a championship. According to the article, the league does this to prevent "traumatizing" on of it's teams. Before, during and after the big game the merchandise is protected like "Elizabeth Taylor's diamonds." The MLB even goes so far as to destroy the mislabeled merchandise.

I appreciate the fact that professional sports leagues go to such great lengths to make sure that these clothing items get to people who are in most dire need (except baseball), but also find it amusing. It's strange how uptight they can be on controlling this kind of merchandise. The image above is from a New York Times article. Besides that, I could not find the 'loser's apparel' anywhere else online. I guess they need to prevent sports memorabilia collectors from selling Buffalo Bills super bowl t-shirts on eBay.