Demand for NFL replica jerseys is down 52% due to COVID-19 game attendance restrictions

The kickoff game of the 2020 NFL began September 10th to empty stadiums, with fans restricted to watching football at home to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

Clothing marketplace LovetheSales.com has revealed since the start of the season, sales of NFL jerseys are down 52% in September, compared to September 2019 figures.

This is a major blow for Nike, who pay the NFL $220 million a year to be the sole supplier of NFL team jerseys.

If the pandemic keeps fans away from stadiums for the rest of the season, the LovetheSales.com data team estimate a loss in jersey sales for Nike of $63 million (compared to jersey sales in 2019).

Diving into NFL jersey sales, the LovetheSales.com data team has ranked Nike’s 32 new home jerseys, based on sales so far of this season’s jersey.

The Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Miami Dolphins are riding high in the top spot for jersey sales, while languishing at the bottom of the table are the Indianapolis Colts, with fans not so keen to match their on-field look.

Stuart McClure, founder of the world’s biggest clothing discount marketplace LovetheSales.com said of the results: “This drop in demand for football jerseys reflects what we saw in the UK at the start of the 2020 soccer season, fans are staying home during COVID and seem happy to represent their team on the couch in last year’s jersey. The NFL could face a big drop in merchandise sales this year unless it can find new ways of appealing to stay at home fans.”