NFL apparel Partnerships shooting attention Of Male and feminine lovers Alike

While the NFL’s television ratings may have taken a slight dip this season, there is little doubt that the league has seen tremendous growth on and off the field over the last decade. An ever-expanding fan base, which now includes more than 84 million women, has paid tremendous dividends for a league expected to bank more than $13 billion in revenues by season’s end. Arguably the league’s biggest area of growth over the last several years has been in ancillary revenue streams like licensed consumer goods, and more notably, apparel and accessory sales.
While fans have been able to purchase their favorite players’ jersey for decades, thanks to the leagues focus on partnership expansion and product diversification, only recently has it become the norm for casual fans to wear team-branded apparel in non-gameday settings. While wearing a NY Giants t-shirt or Oakland Raiders sweatshirt on any day but Sunday may have been frowned upon in the past, now fans can rep their favorite team’s colors in any setting thanks to the league’s new partnerships with high-end brands like Tommy Bahama, Alex and Ani, and Levi’s.

Many industry analysts argue that the league has finally hit a critical mass in terms of fan base diversity and size in which forging such partnerships make senses if the goal is to tap new areas of revenue growth. But in many ways, the league itself believes quite the opposite – expansion of its off-field product is as much a vehicle for attracting fans to the game itself as the game is for selling more merchandise.
“Our expanded product lines for apparel and other consumer packaged goods has never been about slapping the league or team brands on as many products as possible,” explains Rhiannon Madden, VP of Consumer Products at the NFL. “Our approach has always been strategic in the sense of incremental improvement – we want the NFL and its shield to represent a lifestyle, not just a one day a week allegiance. Every year our product offering gets a little better, more sophisticated and more reflective of our fans habits and interests. Our goal has always been about allowing our fans to feel as comfortable wearing our products as they would any other brand,” she elaborates.

In line with this thinking, the NFL’s 2016 line of products is the most diverse yet, with extensive offerings, campaigns and brand ambassadors for both men and women. Of course, it’s the leagues continued recent focus on the latter demographic that best reflects its view of apparel being a vehicle for increased fan base growth among women. From pop-up clothing boutiques and “style lounges” at stadiums, to female targeted print and television advertising, and a girls junior clothing line, the leagues investment into targeting females has been considerable over the last few years. More importantly is their shift towards diverse styles including the ever-popular athleisure category (think Lululemon) as well as high-and-low fashion (mixing designer and street style pieces).