sycasey;842072005 said:

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The Giants have had these stores for decades, even when they were bad.

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I dont think that is an accurate representation of the economics of the thing.


That sport has a much easier time drawing fans to a "bad" team, even a single star hitting home runs can make an entire team popular. A perfect example is the Giants selling tickets to people who just wanted to see a roided freak get 3 chances to hit a ball. You dont get that as much (if at all) in football. In football you might sell more jerseys of an individual player, but it is a lot harder to market a loser.

Phantomfan;842072058 said:

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I dont think that is an accurate representation of the economics of the thing.


That sport has a much easier time drawing fans to a "bad" team, even a single star hitting home runs can make an entire team popular. A perfect example is the Giants selling tickets to people who just wanted to see a roided freak get 3 chances to hit a ball. You dont get that as much (if at all) in football. In football you might sell more jerseys of an individual player, but it is a lot harder to market a loser.

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In the 90s the Giants attendance was way smaller than the 49ers and I don't think you could say that they commanded more of the attention among sports fans in the area. Yet the Giants still had more stores. I think this is about one franchise putting more of an effort into getting its merchandise out there and another not doing as much.

I would not say that baseball in general is more popular than football, in any city.

sycasey;842072061 said:

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In the 90s the Giants attendance was way smaller than the 49ers and I don't think you could say that they commanded more of the attention among sports fans in the area. Yet the Giants still had more stores. I think this is about one franchise putting more of an effort into getting its merchandise out there and another not doing as much.

I would not say that baseball in general is more popular than football, in any city.

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MLB teams play 162 games during regular season versus 16 games for an NFL team.

The Giants are "embedded" in their "community" in too many ways to mention; they wear "San Francisco" proudly and stuck around for the fans and built their own stadium; in so many ways, they uncannily reflect the sense of place of their community; they are marketing geniuses; and one can always buy a cheap ticket to attend a game, so even those with little disposable income can attend a game...

Plus, I love the way they don't forget their former players (=sport's heroes) and incorporate them into their current product.

:cheer

Phantomfan;842072001 said:

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If the 9ers maintain their current success and people show mid range enthusiasm as opposed to the flavor of the year it is now, you will see more permanent stores...

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I love all the hate.

The Niners have turned themselves into one of the better run franchises in the NFL. It's here to stay, and the interest is real.

CalBearRJ;842072074 said:

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I love all the hate.

The Niners have turned themselves into one of the better run franchises in the NFL. It's here to stay, and the interest is real.

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Even if the 9ers continue to do well and fan interest stays strong, that doesn't necessarily translate to the 9er Team Store expanding. It could just lead to more people buying 9er swag from other retailers, especially if they offer better price and/or selection.

I was at CVS earlier today and saw someone buying a 9er shirt there!

86Oski;842072023 said:

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That's a bit of an overstatement, unless you're putting all 30 teams who don't get to the Super Bowl each year in the "joke" category. They had an 8-year playoff drought from 2003 through 2010. Prior to that period, they had made the playoffs 18 out of 22 years.

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No. IIRC in the last 15 years, 18 (19?) teams have been to the Super Bowl.

I looked at the teams that are not included, and they are generally also-ran jokes, Playoff or not, championship game or not.


I am pretty comfortable in my statement.

CalBearRJ;842072074 said:

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I love all the hate.

The Niners have turned themselves into one of the better run franchises in the NFL. It's here to stay, and the interest is real.

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Hate? From me? One of the 1% here who crows about Harbaugh being a great coach and cant stop jawing about Kap?

Seriously?


What I said is true: MOST of the fans you see around now are bandwagon fans. If they 49ers lose Harbaugh (or Harbuagh looses it) and go back to what they were a few years ago, that all goes away. If they maintain the success, and the population maintains a modicum of support, the stores will likely be built.

BUT, as the enthusiasm before Harbaugh was so low, even locally, there certainly was no demand for that kind of store. I am sure plans and permitting is in the works now.

Phantomfan;842072082 said:

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Hate? From me? One of the 1% here who crows about Harbaugh being a great coach and cant stop jawing about Kap?

Seriously?


What I said is true: MOST of the fans you see around now are bandwagon fans. If they 49ers lose Harbaugh (or Harbuagh looses it) and go back to what they were a few years ago, that all goes away. If they maintain the success, and the population maintains a modicum of support, the stores will likely be built.

BUT, as the enthusiasm before Harbaugh was so low, even locally, there certainly was no demand for that kind of store. I am sure plans and permitting is in the works now.

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I guess it's possible that Harbaugh leaves or falls back to earth (though I doubt both) but if they remain in the top five at NFLshop.com, I imagine we may see some brick and mortar stores.

510Bear;842071864 said:

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I was at the new Target in downtown SF on Saturday and they were selling a crapload of 9ers gear.....

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There's a Target in downtown SF?!

NYCGOBEARS;842072217 said:

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There's a Target in downtown SF?!

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Just opened a few months ago. City Target. It's in the same building as the Metreon.

That's awesome! Good for SF.

manus;842072069 said:

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MLB teams play 162 games during regular season versus 16 games for an NFL team.

The Giants are "embedded" in their "community" in too many ways to mention; they wear "San Francisco" proudly and stuck around for the fans and built their own stadium; in so many ways, they uncannily reflect the sense of place of their community; they are marketing geniuses; and one can always buy a cheap ticket to attend a game, so even those with little disposable income can attend a game...

Plus, I love the way they don't forget their former players (=sport's heroes) and incorporate them into their current product.

:cheer

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You aren't kidding about marketing geniuses. Looks like hot ticket again this year. In early January I sold 50 of our 82 games in five days to regular customers. Good buy--cost prorated vs. season ticket cost, and extra online charges from StubHub, etc. avoided.

Unit2Sucks;842071950 said:

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Interesting - so much for that theory. I can't really explain the difference between niners and giants support in the city other than it seems like there are different bars for every NFL team, with fans of every NFL team here and I rarely see anyone rooting for other baseball teams. That could be because they don't show out of town baseball games but bars are set up to show out of town football games with sunday ticket.

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My theory: SF is full of hipsters, yuppies, and hippies, groups who don't really care much for organized sports. Furthermore, football is pretty violent, whereas baseball is safe and "wholesome" (plus the Giants bandwagon has become pretty large lately).

pingpong2;842072358 said:

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Furthermore, football is pretty violent, whereas baseball is safe and "wholesome" (plus the Giants bandwagon has become pretty large lately).

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Aw c'mon, if that were true, the NFL wouldn't even be close to being as popular as it is across the South.

pingpong2;842072358 said:

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My theory: SF is full of hipsters, yuppies, and hippies, groups who don't really care much for organized sports. Furthermore, football is pretty violent, whereas baseball is safe and "wholesome" (plus the Giants bandwagon has become pretty large lately).

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I think it's much simpler than that. People like to wear gear to the games. Diehards wear it everywhere around town, but people who go to 1-4 games a year still want a jersey/shirt/hat/jacket to wear at the games.

Attendance at Giants games this season topped 3.3 million. Add in another 8 playoff games and you're looking at around 3.7 or 3.8 million.

Attendance at 49ers games this season was 557,000, plus one playoff game for a total of about 627,000.

Other things go into it, but I think this is the biggest explanation.

510Bear;842072371 said:

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Aw c'mon, if that were true, the NFL wouldn't even be close to being as popular as it is across the South.

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Not many hipsters, yuppies, and hippies in the South (well, aside form Austin)

grandmastapoop;842072389 said:

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I think it's much simpler than that. People like to wear gear to the games. Diehards wear it everywhere around town, but people who go to 1-4 games a year still want a jersey/shirt/hat/jacket to wear at the games.

Attendance at Giants games this season topped 3.3 million. Add in another 8 playoff games and you're looking at around 3.7 or 3.8 million.

Attendance at 49ers games this season was 557,000, plus one playoff game for a total of about 627,000.

Other things go into it, but I think this is the biggest explanation.

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I would guess a larger percentage of those baseball numbers are the "casual" crowd, meaning a much higher number of unique fans.

Good point..thats a lot of bodies

grandmastapoop;842072389 said:

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I think it's much simpler than that. People like to wear gear to the games. Diehards wear it everywhere around town, but people who go to 1-4 games a year still want a jersey/shirt/hat/jacket to wear at the games.

Attendance at Giants games this season topped 3.3 million. Add in another 8 playoff games and you're looking at around 3.7 or 3.8 million.

Attendance at 49ers games this season was 557,000, plus one playoff game for a total of about 627,000.

Other things go into it, but I think this is the biggest explanation.

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What is the "psychology" behind "people like to wear gear to the games"? Perhaps, it is something very innocent and simple? In the realm of bumper stickers and tattoos? Sort of like Chinese ancient medicinals (=where they use parts and products of powerful mammals, like tigers and bears)?

I think it also needs to be noted that the niners gear is pretty ugly. I've been a lifelong niners fan but have almost no gear because I won't wear red. It's always a struggle finding something to wear to games.

Contrast that with the giants black and orange which is pretty awesome.

manus;842072459 said:

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What is the "psychology" behind "people like to wear gear to the games"? Perhaps, it is something very innocent and simple? In the realm of bumper stickers and tattoos? Sort of like Chinese ancient medicinals (=where they use parts and products of powerful mammals, like tigers and bears)?

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The thing was that it wasn't always this way. It seems to be mostly a "last 10 years" kind of phenomenon. If you look at games from the 80s and 90s you do see some people wearing team gear, but it's not a huge widespread thing (plenty of people just showing up in plain t-shirts or something). After 2000 it seems like the crowd is always just blanketed in the team colors.

pingpong2;842072392 said:

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Not many hipsters, yuppies, and hippies in the South (well, aside form Austin)

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Right, but the South is full of people who would prefer a "wholesome" sport over a violent and degenerate one, if MLB and the NFL were seen that way, respectively.

GMPoop is exactly right.....gear isn't just for diehards. For most casual fans, wearing gear to games is part of the fun of attending, and showing up in your ordinary clothes without even a hat is a little weird. It's true for every team, even Cal and its supposedly non-conformist anti-establishment self-actualizing fans.

I've heard people say "I'm going to the 9ers/Giants/Warriors game next week, I need to pick up a shirt/hat".

The psychology behind it? I'm guessing it makes people feel like part of a bigger community...

It seems so silly to try to pigeon hole fans by where they live. The Giants and Niners as well as the A's and Raiders basically represent N. California, not to mention the western US. People are free to support any team they want. Not everyone is fortunate to live in The City. And to lump the 800,000 people in The City into hipster, yuppies and hippies is laughable. My S.F. neighborhood is full of second and third generation people who have football and baseball season tickets dating back to Kezar and/or Candlestick, they stick through both teams through thick and thin. It is just a plus that things have better in the past few years.

manus;842072459 said:

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What is the "psychology" behind "people like to wear gear to the games"? Perhaps, it is something very innocent and simple? In the realm of bumper stickers and tattoos? Sort of like Chinese ancient medicinals (=where they use parts and products of powerful mammals, like tigers and bears)?

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It's tribal identification . Not a bad thing and the American genius of merchandising has taken full advantage of it

grandmastapoop;842072389 said:

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I think it's much simpler than that. People like to wear gear to the games. Diehards wear it everywhere around town, but people who go to 1-4 games a year still want a jersey/shirt/hat/jacket to wear at the games.

Attendance at Giants games this season topped 3.3 million. Add in another 8 playoff games and you're looking at around 3.7 or 3.8 million.

Attendance at 49ers games this season was 557,000, plus one playoff game for a total of about 627,000.

Other things go into it, but I think this is the biggest explanation.

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It's also easier to be a casual Giants fan. You can get tickets for $10 to some games, getting to AT&T is crazy easy, and it's fun to go to even if you don't care about baseball. The Stick is a pain to get to, it's ugly, it's not fun to be in unless you care about the Niners, and it's more expensive. It's just hard to be a casual Niners fan.

New stadium may change that.

Quote:

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The 49ers finished first in team merchandise sales on NFLShop.com, edging out the Ravens despite losing to Baltimore in the Super Bowl. The highest the 49ers had previously finished on the list, since the league started monitoring sales in 1979, was second in 1994 and '95.

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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9150921/robert-griffin-iii-jersey-top-seller-sets-nfl-record

CalBearRJ;842112114 said:

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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9150921/robert-griffin-iii-jersey-top-seller-sets-nfl-record

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They had the Internet back in 1979?

510Bear;842071801 said:

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shallo' Alto, ... been here

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:cheer:beer::Monty