Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

The Jayhawks Win! The Jayhawks Win! These words are very sweet to fans of the University of Kansas. Fans of the university are not the only people who love that phrase. Local business owners love it too.

Retail shops like Jock’s Nitch, Sports Dome and the KU Bookstore have seen a correlation between the success of KU athletics and there sales.

Brian Hoffman, owner of the Sports Dome, has seen how a team’s success can affect his business.
“When teams are wining they always sell better. It is not only KU. This also applies to the Chiefs, Royals and all professional teams.”

The last year has been very unique for these retailers. In the past year KU basketball has gone from one extreme to another. Last season the team was one of the elite teams in the country led by four seniors, only to be knocked out of the tournament in the first round. This season the Jayhawks had their worst start since 1972, only to bounce back to become one of the hottest teams in the country. The football team had its first winning season in more than a decade. These factors have all changed the ways retailers planned their business for 2006.

These changes have made work difficult for store owners, who must order merchandise several months before a season begins. Some sports require orders to be sent in before the current season is over.

At Sports Dome, preparation for the next college football season begins on Dec 30. This is days before the national championship game, two weeks before juniors declare for the NFL draft and over a month before national signing day.

Like football, orders for college basketball also must be sent in months in advance. This leaves business owners in dark when trying to predict a team’s success, which effects how much the store will order.

This season, expectations for the men’s basketball team were low, after the departure of its top six scoring leaders from last season. Which included the loss of four seniors and one first team all American. This season, KU’s success laid on the shoulders of three freshman Causing concerns for fans and business owners. The lowered expectations caused the Sports Dome to decrease there orders for the 2005-2006 season.

Hoffman said “We definitely have ordered and sold less basketball merchandise this year, compared to last year. We usually like to have a majority of our basketball merchandise sold by Christmas, but that did not happen and some of that can be attributed to the team’s struggles.”

On January 16, the young Jayhawks squad hit rock bottom, after a devastating loss to the Missouri Tigers. They had a 10-6 record and were in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1989.

The thought of missing the tournament was a little frightening to Hoffman. March is usually a successful month for business, especially if the team makes the Final Four or wins the Big 12 championship.

Since the loss at Missouri, Bill Self’s team has rebounded strongly by winning ten straight games. They are tied for first place in the Big 12 and ranked in the top 20.

Ku’s recent success has given business a shot in the arm. During the winning streak sales have increased at the Sports Dome. Specific numbers of increased sales were not available.

Basketball is not the only team to see its sales increase when it is performing well. 2005 was the Jayhawks most successful football season in over a decade. Retailers noticed a significant rise in the sale of football merchandise last season.

Ryan Owens, manager of Jocks Nitch said, “Football is very dependent on wins and losses. When the team wins more, it brings more fans to the game, which equals more customers in here.”

Last season the Jayhawks started the season with three straight wins, which got fans excited about the season.

The KU Bookstore was able to reap the benefits of the team’s quick start. Jersey sales skyrocketed there. By the middle of the season the bookstore was sold out of jerseys and it had to order more. To avoid this problem next year the bookstore has doubled their initial jersey order for the 2006 season.

Retailers benefited the most from the football team’s appearance and victory in the Fort Worth Bowl. Fans were very enthusiastic about the bowl game and bought a lot of bowl merchandise. The KU Bookstore sold out of it’s 200 of their Forth Worth Bowl t-shirts. After KU’s 42-13 victory over the Houston Cougars; the bookstore sold approximately 500 bowl championship shirts. Each shirt cost $20.

The success of last year’s football team had made fans and retailers very optimistic for the upcoming season.

Karen Ice, buyer for the KU bookstore said “Overall interest in football has peaked now. There is a positive attitude from everyone so it has increased our sales and orders for next season. I am looking everyday for new exciting designs to promote interest everyday.” (843 words)