PWHL merchandise for inaugural season

[tarheelhockey]

This is a reasonable mindset, albeit one I don't agree with.

I'm the opposite. No one is going to see a Toronto jersey and say, "Hey, what team is that?" Could be anything from a women's professional team to a local beer league team.

What makes jerseys unique is the logo and colour scheme. The PWHL has done pretty decently with the colours. But splashing each city's name diagonally across the front is sheer laziness and uninspiring. I say it as someone who always comments the same when a NHL does it. It's lame.

I do agree with though that the league logo is really solid -- simplistic, yet sleek.

Now we know that they didn’t actually plan to roll out with this set of unis, that it was an issue with their supplier, so the discussion is kind of moot.

That aside, in principle I still think there’s something to this approach. With the exception of a handful of baseball teams, minor league sports flat-out does not have brand value. Nobody sees a minor league jersey around town and thinks “hey what team is that? I should buy a ticket!”. At best maybe it inspires a passing curiosity, if it’s something really goofy like Savannah Bananas or Rocket City Trash Pandas. Otherwise, no matter what the design, it’s just another logo in a sea of logos. The brand value of a logo is generated not by design quality but by the prestige of the product it’s attached to (see: Habs, Lakers, Yankees… crap logos with massive brand value).

So as an upstart minor league organization, some out-of-the-box thinking is called for. Imitating the brand strategy of a major league team flat-out doesn’t work. Better to be realistic about who you are as an organization, and look for revenue where it actually exists. Namely — in the value of retail clothing per se.

In that respect, it’s not crazy (to me, anyway) to ignore the minuscule revenue available to a minor-league team based on its brand appeal, and instead to pursue the revenue available in the overall market based on making wearable, attractive street fashion. That’s particularly the case for a league that caters primarily to a female audience*.

So instead of doing the thing that always doesn’t work for minor league teams (behaving like an NHL team) why not try doing a think that always works for apparel companies (behaving like an apparel company)? Make merch that’s designed to appeal to the market itself, not the franchise. Sell jerseys that people would wear even if they’ve never heard of the team. Angle to have them in the kiosks at malls and airports. Rake in revenue from mass-market sales of the apparel as apparel, and use the PHWL as a nice backstory for anyone who cares.

I suspect that would sell more jerseys, and therefore make more money, in the long run. And increased merch revenue might actually make a franchise economically sustainable, beyond the norm for low-level organizations which fold at the drop of a hat.


* Let’s face it, men will mindlessly wear unspeakably hideous apparel in public as long as it has a sports connection (see: guy over 30 in a basketball jersey) whereas women are typically a bit more discriminating.

 

[LadyStanley]

Cool

 

[Brent Burns]

Kids are not drawn to any of these designs

 

[Tom ServoMST3K]

I really thought the lack of branding in year one would be a major limiting factor, but it appears I was wrong.

I still think it was a massive miss to debut with only city branding.

 

[LadyStanley]

Seem to be sold out of a lot of stuff, especially jerseys.

 

[Albatros]

I really thought the lack of branding in year one would be a major limiting factor, but it appears I was wrong.

I still think it was a massive miss to debut with only city branding.

Maybe initially, but in the long run it can be a major win if they have the patience to allow team identities develop organically.