Last night, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled off an incredible upset, trouncing defending champion New England Patriots 41-33 to win their first Super Bowl title.
But it wasn’t just the Eagles that scored a major win. Turns out, Philadelphia retailers are also reaping the rewards of their home team’s victory, and big businesses are cashing in on the Eagles’ success by selling championship merchandise to eager fans willing to spend hundreds in celebration of the historic event.
“Philly fans have been without a Super Bowl win for 52 years,” said Matt Powell, senior industry advisor of sports at The NPD Group, a market research firm. “The pent-up demand will drive sales for championship products.”
According to Powell, the two retailers who will best leverage this demand are Dick’s Sporting Goods and Modell’s Sporting Goods, both sporting goods stores that dominate athletic apparel sales in the Philadelphia market and rolled out Super Bowl championship gear immediately after the win. Throughout the state, fans flocked to stores to get their hands on T-shirts, hats, pennants and other collectibles that carry the team’s logo and new title.
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Another sports retailer that made a play was Fanatics, which said it’s seeing record sales largely thanks to Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles’ rising popularity and will likely lead the second-best championship sales in history for the company (behind the Chicago Cubs’ World Series win in 2016), according to ESPN. Pop-up stores also set up shop in heavily trafficked parts of the city, including strip centers and train stations, some of which have been posted since the Eagles made the playoffs.
Despite the late-night hours, select Dick’s and Modell’s stores in Philadelphia opened their doors for customers seeking Eagles gear instantly after the team clinched the Super Bowl title, and some reportedly reopened as early as 5 a.m. this morning to accommodate those who sought more merchandise.
The shopping sprees also continued in nearby states such as New Jersey, where a local news provider followed fans who crowded into Modell’s at Hamilton Marketplace following the landmark win.
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