NFL Expands UK Presence With Jersey Programme
NFL UK has announced that for the first time, fans will be able to purchase custom jerseys for all 32 NFL teams. The news comes following strong growth in NFL apparel sales in the UK in 2013.
Nike, the official on-field partner of the NFL, has worked closely with the Official NFL Shop Europe online store to launch a full 32 team roster game jersey offer for the NFL’s growing European fan base.
According to NFL UK, the custom jersey programme was developed as a direct response to consumer feedback wanting greater local access to Nike on-field product. Previously, UK fans have had to order certain jerseys from the US domestic store.
In the United States the NFL is the leader in sports apparel sales with over $1 billion in sales in 2012 representing 41% of the overall sports logo apparel market.
The NFL reportedly sells more apparel than Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League combined in the US. International sales of NFL consumer products continue to return strong growth with NFL apparel sales predicted to grow by 12% in the 2014/15 season across the EMEA region.
Commenting on the programme launch, Teri Niadna, business development director at NFL UK said: ‘At NFL, we have grown our UK fan base by 30% in the past three years and we are delighted to be able to deliver a complete range of player and personalised jerseys to those fans for the first time in the UK. The ability to customise apparel comes just in time for the NFL International Series at Wembley this autumn so UK fans should get their order in early.’
The NFL International Series enters its eighth year of bringing regular-season games to the UK in 2014. Having increased from one to two games in 2013, all tickets made available for the three games in 2014 have already sold out.
The series will be supported by Budweiser, who expanded their rights with the NFL to a global relationship through until the end of 2016.
The NFL proved as popular as ever last year with a sell-out NFL on Regent Street that saw the event earn the Best Live Experience Award, sponsored by Eurosport, at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2014.
The 2014 series sees the Jacksonville Jaguars playing the second game in their four-year commitment to the UK, while the Atlanta-Detroit game will be a historic first Sunday morning kick-off in the US (1:30 p.m. UK time; 9:30 a.m. ET).
In 2014, all three games in the series will be played at London’s Wembley Stadium: Miami Dolphins at Oakland Raiders (September 28); Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons (October 26); and Dallas Cowboys at Jacksonville Jaguars (November 9).
