TK Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2188707 Oct. 28, 2003, 10:41PM Sunday will be a red jersey day for Texans By JOSEPH DUARTE Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES In the high-stakes world of sports marketing, the 2-year-old Texans still are searching for an identity. The latest fad is red. Lots of red. Battle red. As part of Battle Red Day, the Texans will introduce a different look when they wear red jerseys for the first time during Sunday's game at Reliant Stadium against NFC South leader Carolina. The Texans have worn deep blue steel and liberty white jerseys during their first two seasons. The alternate jersey is a growing fad throughout the NFL and other sports to boost sales and interest among fans. At least 12 teams, including the Texans, Dolphins, Patriots, Eagles and Redskins, will wear an alternate jersey this season in conjunction with a special occasion. For the NFL's annual doubleheader on Thanksgiving Day, all four teams -- the Cowboys, Dolphins, Lions and Packers -- will wear throwback uniforms. "First and foremost, game-day attendees want to feel part of the event," said Dan Migala, publisher of The Migala Report, a Chicago-based sports marketing publication. "Fashion has a lot to do with things. In terms of color scheme, the Texans have done as good a job as I've seen. Public opinion goes a long way." An estimated 1,000 red jerseys are expected to be sold on game day, according to Glenn Szymanski, director of merchandise for Aramark, which operates the Go Texans Store at Reliant Stadium. Since the new jerseys, which sell for about $78.50 before tax, went on sale last Tuesday, sales have "exceeded our expectations," said David Peart, the Texans' vice president of corporate sales. "From our perspective, we've been really pleased with how well-accepted the team and the identity has been in the marketplace," Peart said. "There's a connection between the fans and this team. You can see it on Sundays when you see the number of folks that are wearing the merchandise to games and also during the rest of the week as you walk through the city and see the Texans logo almost everywhere." Jerseys are currently available online at the Web site houstontexans.com and at the Go Texans Store located on the south side of the stadium. David Carr is the only player whose jersey is available at the store, although Szymanski said Andre Johnson jerseys are expected to be there beginning today. Jerseys featuring Aaron Glenn and Jamie Sharper also will be featured in the Texans' player rotation for the alternate uniform. Area Academy Sports & Outdoor locations share exclusive rights and will begin selling jerseys Saturday. General retail outlets will begin carrying the jersey next Tuesday. While the Texans introduce red, green is still the color of choice when it comes to team apparel. The NFL, which sells about 4 million jerseys worldwide each year, is the world's fourth-largest brand in terms of licensing ($3.1 billion annually), according to the April issue of License! magazine. The league trails only Disney ($14 billion), Warner Brothers ($6 billion) and Bonjour ($5 billion). NFL clubs share evenly in merchandise sold on NFLShop.com, the league's Web site, or at local and national retailers. But each team keeps all profits from merchandise sold at its stadium, making uniform designs as much about economics as fashion. The Texans jumped more than 10 spots from 2001 to 2002 in terms of merchandise sales and are "significantly close to cracking the top one-third" among the 32 teams, according to Dan Masonson, corporate communications manager for the NFL. Carr was No. 2 among rookies last season, and Johnson is currently fifth among rookies this year. Masonson added that more than 70 percent of the Texans' merchandise bought online at NFLShop.com is sold to fans outside Texas. Usually, the popularity of a team's merchandise, such as its jerseys and caps, is strongly linked to how well it plays. And star power. Not surprisingly, Tampa Bay and Oakland -- last season's Super Bowl teams -- led the league in sales for the fiscal year ending March 31. The Texans went 4-12 during their inaugural season and are currently 2-5 approaching midseason. "It's a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. It takes time, and it takes winning. Winning increases sales, as does tradition of winning," said Neil Schwartz, director of marketing for SportScanINFO. "You'll see teams with long-standing winning traditions that may not be winning right now but have a tremendous fan base. Obviously, a new team like the Texans doesn't have that right now." SportsScanINFO is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., and tracks sales of sports apparel and footwear for the major sports leagues and retail giants such as Academy, Sports Authority and Oshman's. According to figures compiled last year, the Texans ranked 29th nationally -- ahead of only Seattle, Jacksonville and Arizona -- with a 1 percent market share of sales from NFL jerseys. While the Texans might be relatively new and unknown outside Texas, some team merchandise is popping up in unexpected places. "I was walking down the street (in Chicago), and a guy walked by with a Texans hat," Migala said. "I asked him if he was from Houston. He said no, but that he was from Texas. He said he was a (football) fan from Texas but not necessarily a fan of the Texans. Texans more time and time again have an affinity to show how proud they are to be from Texas." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman56 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 So what is the Redskins alternate jersey? Gold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMonkey Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Originally posted by Hitman56 So what is the Redskins alternate jersey? Gold? It's a shade of yellow called "Loosing Lemon";) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 I still wish the Rams and Chargers would revert back to their old unis. The powder blue and blue and yellow were great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 The SKins alternate jersey is the Throwback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Fakeman Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 The skins white on white is HOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD_washingtonredskins Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Chargers definitely need to go back. That franchise needs to shake things up somehow. The Rams should stick with what they have except they should always wear the blue pants with the white shirts. Skins need to go back to yellow pants at some point I think. I like the classic uniform but it would look cool with yellow pants with both jerseys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 WTF is Liberty White? It is becoming a queer world when we let sh*t like this into our sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gridironmike Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Originally posted by codeorama The SKins alternate jersey is the Throwback. Can you confirm this? (Link please) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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