Bay Area merchandise sales surge with both Warriors and Sharks in Finals
What do you get when two professional sports teams within a 50-mile radius reach the championship series of their respective leagues?
A boom in the merchandise market.
As a result of stellar play from both the Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks, San Francisco Bay Area merchandise sales have jumped 75% in the past two weeks, passing Los Angeles as the top-selling market in the country for licensed sports merchandise, according to Fanatics.com. Rounding out the top five is New York City, Chicago and Dallas.
Coming as no surprise, the Warriors — who are just two games away from their second consecutive NBA championship — sit atop merchandise sales for NBA teams, ahead of their Finals foe in Cleveland (second) and the team that took them to seven games in the Western Conference finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder (third). The Chicago Bulls rank fourth, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers (despite posting the NBA's second-worst record this season).
On the ice, the Sharks — who are down 3-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final — rank second in NHL team sales behind Pittsburgh. The Chicago Blackhawks (2013 and 2015 champions) sit in third, followed by the New York Rangers and the St. Louis Blues.
As for NBA players, Warriors back-to-back MVP leads all sales, followed by Cavaliers superstar LeBron James. Klay Thompson, Curry's backcourt counterpart and the second member of the NBA's deadliest duo, ranks third. His sales have seen a 340% year-over-year increase this week. The recently-retired Kobe Bryant ranks fourth and the Thunder's explosive point guard, Russell Westbrook, ranks fifth.
In addition to the sales on Fanatics, overall sales on NBAStore.com are booming as well, up 35% since the start of the Finals when compared to last season. The top-selling players for Golden State (after Curry and Thompson) are Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Harrison Barnes. For Cleveland (after James) it's Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson.
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