European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cover Story _ from Page 5 turns with mtg to reach a More diverse audience Simio says. In a Given year Between five and 15 percent of Gross annual mob sales Are made during the postseason or immediately thereafter he adds. The demographics of this business transcend sex racial and age barriers contend Simio and Connelly. Quot surveys show our customers come from a wide spectrum Quot Simio says. A male and female All age groups fans and  mob products sell rather evenly he says where unlike the raiders dominated football Market there is no noticeable skew toward one team. Baseball headgear a from the fitted Woolen Caps like the players Wear to the nostalgia series to the inexpensive mesh adjust tables a has gained popularity. Quot the baseball Cap business has grown tremendously a Simio says. Winning Connelly notes is the Best marketing ploy a team can have. A winning obviously stimulates sales in the local markets Quot he says. A people want to identify with  the 49ers garnered about 15 percent of the nil properties Market last year followed by the new York giants with 10 percent the Chicago bears with 6 percent and the Miami dolphins rounding out the top five Sellers with 4 percent. Mob properties did not release Market shares but Simio says the top five Sellers for mob properties last season were merchandise for in order the White sox new York Yankees Oakland athletics Chicago cubs and mets. Thomas Drake is an analyst for the National sporting goods association in Chicago. He like Connelly says that while the licensing Industry is not recession proof it has handled the Tough times by incorporating Tough measures. Quot the recession has had an affect on every Industry in the country a Drake says. Quot does ours hold up better than most yes it has. People Are going to be a Little More reluctant to part with their Money during recession times but with a Price Point median Price of s30-s40, people Are willing to find that kind of Money for say a kids  to outfit a teen Ager in a Complete raiders wardrobe and a pair of air Jordans parents could Shell out As much As $400. That would include a stadium Parka Cap sweats to shirt and yes undergarments a raiders boxers go fast a one Midwest merchant said is $90 to $120 too much for a children a coat Connelly says Well. A the prices Are a function of what it costs to manufacture the goods what the retail Price is and what the retailer Mark up is Quot Connelly says. A your products Are very reasonably priced. The Quality of the garment is commensurate with the prices being charged. I think it would be unfair to say anyone s getting ripped  who a complaining sports merchandising is simply snowballing into a fashion craze. Quot apparel and licensed products will flourish in this Arena Quot Drake says. Quot if the manufacturers keep creating these fads and catching these cycles there a no telling How Long it will  even internationally the Market reacts to the dark realities of the sporting life. Witness magic Johnson s announcement in november head contracted european stores Are jammed with sports stuff. The aids virus. A when magic Johnson told everyone he had the aids virus a Comptons Panzini says a it influenced sales a lot in two weeks we sold a lot of magic stuff los Angeles lakers stuff anything to do with magic  men and women and children do not survive on team allegiance alone any longer Drake adds. He cites the Sharks phenomenon a Case of skyrocketing Domestic sales of san Jose Sharks merchandise. The Sharks a National hockey league expansion franchise have Given the reigning nil merchandising Champion Kings a run for a share of the hockey merchandise Market. Employing a logo of a Black shark chomping through a hockey stick and bordered by Teal a the Sharks Are the hottest nil logo item out a Drake says. A people Are just scarfing it up. A a there a a lot of speculation As to Why. Some people say its the name Sharks. Some people like the colors and some buy it because its a professional hockey team in California. The teams not that Good but the products sell. A i done to think anyone truly understands the mystique and its relationship with sales. A lot has to do with How the team is doing. At the beginning of the season retailers speculate How the local team will do that year and  fill out their Purchase orders based on that. If a team gets hot in the Middle of the year and the retailers did no to plan for it then they have to Scurry around to catch vendors for Supply so they can keep up with the  As Long As the demand exists so will the flood of products into Domestic and International markets. Says Drake a this just Isnit going to die anytime  contributing to this report Tim Cahill of the new York  ways to dress sporty in Naples american sportswear is hard to come by in Naples Italy. People who Wear it nearly always bought it outside of Southern Italy of the Small number of fans who do Wear their favorite teams colors few received their sportswear from As far away As air Force sgt. Brian Mclendon his Chicago bulls Parka is a gift from his Girlfriend in Japan. The Black coat with a red quilted lining Cost about $200, said Mclendon who is assigned to the air Force element at natos Allied forces Southern Europe Headquarters in Naples. He has seen several students at Naples american High school wearing team Ball Caps jackets and sweat pants. Quot they see them on a lot of videos and Bug their parents a Mclendon said adding that the parents ask friends or relatives in the states to buy and mail the clothes to them. Navy Seaman Joseph Brown also wears a bulls coat. The religious programs specialist assigned to the Naples naval support activity Chapel bought his jacket at a stateside sporting goods store. A Gary Miller Naples Burea if you like football so much go ahead and eat it who a to say the National football league does no to know a Good thing just a few of the products in the planning stages from nil properties a nil crunch it a Hometown potato chips of Springfield Ohio has been licensed to manufacture extra Crunchy Kettle cooked chips. They will be cooked in Sunflower Oil no less for the fitness minded Couch potato who wants extra crunch with his run a no shoot. A nil ice Cream a sea test a subsidiary of Kraft general foods is testing an nil ice Cream bar in Washington Miami and Philadelphia. The Premium Vanilla Flavoured ice Cream is football shaped covered in chocolate Caramel and almonds with a football lacing on top. A nil Candy a Hershey foods Fleer corp. And Leaf inc. Have begun distribution of nil Candy. Hershey offers football shaped chocolates packaged in nil gift containers. Leaf is testing team identified stick gum and Bubble gum at checkout counters. Fleer is coming out with Gridiron Stix a Candy Sticks with miniature collectible helmets on top. A nil super bowl fragrances a no the nil has not bottled locker room stench or the Aroma of overpriced 6-week-old hot dogs. Commemorative sports fragrances of Tuckahoe n.y., Hopes to capture at least the Aura of footballs greatest spectacle by offering a fragrance and collectible decanter bearing the appropriate super bowl logo. A nil. Home team a if you can to get enough of those nil candies chips or a de Toilette take heart. The league has endorsed Home furnishings sporting team logos. Among the furnishings Are area rugs typing chairs for the Home or office and directors chairs. A pump it a first we had the plastic adjustable bands. Then we found the fitted Caps More comfortable. Now the league has entered into the realm of the pump popularized by Reebok athletic shoes. The nil pump Cap features a built in air pump that enables the wearer to adjust the hat to the head by yup pumping it. Another hat that is still in the design phase features drawstring fittings. A Mon better clothes nil properties offers other clothes lines including nil spirit action Wear for women Payne Stewart s Golf collection and throwbacks an nil Vintage collection of old jerseys jackets Etc. A nil racing a nil properties entered the realm of Auto racing when Washington redskins coach Joe Gibbs entered a team into Lascar Competition. Former Chicago bears running Back Walter Payton has developed nil team 34, another racing team. Also in the nil locker nil Golf club covers baby sleepers Floral arrangements bows videos and even a comic Book starring the a Fly a own Good Guy gee Whiz superhero super pro. Rob Staggenborg Page 6 a. Sunday March 8. 1992