The LeBron James effect is reaping rich harvest for his new NBA club Los Angeles Lakers. After the NBA star’s agency Klutch Sports Group has announced his move from Cleveland Cavaliers to Los Angeles Lakers in a four-year, $154 million dollar deal – the LA Lakers have benefited first from a surge in the demand of their season tickets and then with an increase in the team’s replica jerseys.
It is not just the ticket prices for Laker’s matches that have seen an unprecedented surge. Hours after the announcement of James signing with the NBA franchisee, the LA Lakers jersey with his name emblazoned on the back has seen over a whopping 600% surge in sales.
Fanatics president of direct to consumer retail, Jack Boyle, while speaking during a CNBC show has revealed that pre-order sales for LeBron James Lakers jerseys have seen a 600% surge in the first three hours after the news about the deal broke versus after the 2014 announcement that he was joining the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Fanatics is an American online retailer of licensed sportswear, sports equipment, and merchandise. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company also currently operates the e-commerce websites of all major professional sports leagues (MLB, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA, MLS, and UFC), major media brands (CBS Sports, FOX Sports, and NBC Sports), and over 150 collegiate and professional team properties. They are also the exclusive online distributer for the United States Olympic Team.
Boyle told CNBC reporters that the top markets behind the price surge is Los Angeles, followed by New York and Cleveland. “We have seen him making a change to a team that has a national presence. The no. 1 market we have sold jerseys to is Los Angeles, but we also see strong sales in New York, the bay area and even Cleveland, which has been seen at the 4th spot in terms of sales in the first 24 hours,” he said.
LeBron’s signing has resulted in major upheavals in the tickets and merchandising market, which Boyle has described as a big national event for one of the most significant players in NBA. He is a four-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA finals MVP, fourteen-time NBA All-Star, two times Olympic gold medallist, eight consecutive NBA finalists, and a three-time NBA champion.
LeBron James has topped the charts for the record jersey sales, leaving behind Golden State Warriors legend Stephen Curry. For Fanatics, it was the single largest day ever seen with a traded player or a free agent in NBA moving teams and among the top 10 days all time for a record jersey sales for a single NBA player.
The demand, according to Fanatics has been much higher than was anticipated. “From the time when James came back from Miami to Cleveland in July 2014, we have seen over 600% increase in his jersey sales.”
Boyle has also said that fans who have purchased a previous edition of LeBron jersey need not worry at all. “We have a program called ‘The Jersey Assurance’ that allows fans, who bought LeBron jersey over the last 90 days can actually exchange it for the new Lakers LeBron jersey or for any player on the Cleveland roster as well.”
Jersey Assurance Programme is a unique fan loyalty initiative, a one-of-a-kind jersey insurance, launched in November last year. It allows free exchanges within 90 days in case a player changes teams. For those who have purchased jerseys via American Express, they have a year to exchange.
The surge in jerseys sales coincided with the reports of LA Lakers match price tickets surging from $3,499 to $5,800. The sky-rocketing ticket demand frenzy has also seen one person, who reportedly has paid $188,781 on StubHub for four season tickets, none of which include play-off games!
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