Thursday, January 18, 2007

All Star Jersey Mayhem

Japer's Rink has a post up on the new Reebok designed All-Star jerseys (along with a nice rendition of what the new Caps jersey would look like next year, if only we didn't screw it up).

I'm going to go a different route with this. Take a look at the price for one of these things: $110, $185, $350, $425. This HAD BETTER be one time, All-Star jersey only pricing. If it's not, it's another idiotic move by a league that seems intent on alienating every fan that loves the game and making it inaccessible to those that want to get into it for the first time.

Think about it... a replica NBA jersey sells for $45-60. A replica NFL jersey sells for $75-100. Replica MLB jerseys sell for around $75. MLS sells theirs for $65-80.

You're telling me the NHL, which trails all these leagues in popularity in the US, is going to charge more than all these? And, in the case of a jersey with an actual name and number, at least $85 more?

Lets put this into perspective: a father with 1 kid is given tickets to a game. He loves it. The kid loves it. The kid wants a jersey of his favorite player (Alex Ovechkin, of course). So dad goes to take a look at the replicas and BAM! a $185 price tag stares him right in the face. If you're that dad, (not a lifelong NHL fan) what do you do?

And if the league wants to move hockey away from the perception that it's a sport for the elite only, this is exactly how NOT to do it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now you know why Original Six never got us any real Caps jerseys when we were younger. We had to wear our Cap Boys jerseys to the games! I can tell you this, Grumpy Caps Fan #4 (also known as Grumpy Caps Fan #2 version 2) will not be wearing any "authentic" RBK jerseys until he stops growing (so we're talking about 16 years from now, give or take).

3 Grumpy Caps fans said...

He's still too young to understand the game, which might make him the only happy caps fan in the family right now.