European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse World league of american football teams arc ready to kick off next weekend and to sell More gear. S4s Michael Abram bustling business. Fan amp fun showed a 300-percent profit last year. Mtg Europe is the perpetrator of much of this madness Maschok says. With Marky Mark and his Funky Bunch garbed in Chicago White sox gear and Hammer nailing Down a top 10 hit with Jerry Glan Ville and his outlaw Atlanta Falcons in the too legit to quit video these products have become As american As televised court hearings. A a what a in fashion in America quickly becomes fashion also in Germany a writes Leonhard Kazda in the Frankfurter All Gemeiner newspaper. The private to stations contribute to this trend he added referring to mtg and other music video channels. A just look at the video clips on the music channels a Liebe says. A almost everyone who appears there is wearing an american not that Liebes complaining. Those clips give his Agency free advertising. A what they Wear on these shows is what the kids want to Wear Here a he says. A when the rappers came on the music television wearing the raiders jackets the younger germans saw it As a status Symbol a piece of America they wanted to relate to a Maschok says. A when Public enemy came out wearing l. A. Kings jackets then that a what these German kids wanted to Wear. They have no idea just what they re buying and most have no idea what the National hockey league even at the super bowl party in Frankfurt a bal sport Halle in january fans bought Washington redskins shirts at a championship Pace. So what if they Cost 50 Marks $30 ? Compton clerks Lenny Loch and Zielinski say the redskins craze shows no sign of losing its grip anytime soon. The skateboard crowd favors the raiders Wear but the redskins products Are in demand Zielinki says. A people know that the redskins won the super bowl so they buy it. It is very popular right now a Loch says. A i think they find it Cool to be like the americans to Wear this the inflated prices add to the Novelty of the product Maschok says. A the Price these kids Are paying is sometimes two to three times More than what they a pay for the same jacket in the states a Washok says. A but the Price is not really the thing. If anything the Price makes the europeans want it More. They say j250 Marks must be something and they buy it no problem. But if they could buy a jacket for 50 Marks and there were stores everywhere Selling it nobody would want it because everybody has it. Understand its More of a status Symbol to the the europeans he adds a think american youth Are More free More free spirited than the european youth. American kids have More opportunities than the German kids. The German kids look at All these s4s Micholaj Abram Engelbert Beck a German glad to have his new baseball Cap. American movies and see the american dream. For Many germans the dream is to go to California for a six week vacation or to live there. They want that coca cola across the Board the heavyweight in the sports merchandising Arena belongs to the products bearing the helmeted pirate with the Eye Patch. The raiders with their storied Black and Silver logo and their Tough Guy image dominate sales domestically and abroad. They constitute More than one fourth 26.6 percent of All nil properties sales. A Black has truly become a Universal color. The mystique the Raider image and the color Black. Its a Strong fashion statement a says Connelly of the nil. A the Atlanta Falcons products sold Well last season partly because of their winning record and partly because the switch to Black team colors. Falcons merchandise As a whole has risen in Market ranking and has shown a significant increase since the change to baseball teams Are also into the swing of redesign. The Chicago White sox enjoyed what major league baseball properties vice president Frank Simio characterized As a Quot meteoric Rise in popularity and demand in 1991. White sox products ranked 18th in league sales before last season but skyrocketed to no. 1 in 1991. Why the Rise there was to Jackson a signing with the White sox who used him on to ads. There was also the opening of the new Comiskey Park. The redesign of the White sox uniform Simio says a was very critical in boosting sales. The team adopted a traditional Black and White Pinstripe uniform last season. In 1986, mob merchandise sales totalled $200 million. In 1991, fans bought $1.5 billion Worth of goods. Even Hollywood has gotten in on the mob feeding frenzy. Tom sell Eck a magnum . Wore a Detroit tigers hat. Billy crystals City slickers finds the Star Riding horseback on a cattle drive wearing a new York mets Cap. Spike Eek a do the right thing was a Boon to Brooklyn dodgers sales. Timothy bus Fields Elliot in partial to a Philadelphia Phillies Cap. Forthcoming mob moves include a retail agreement with major film studios As Well As Ven continued on Page 6 March 8, 1992 sunday a Page 5
