ColoradoMooseHerd said:
ptothemo said:
I really think that this is an Adidas thing as much - if not more - as it is anything else. There were basically no baseball jerseys available this year, and there is a similar thread over there about that. I don't understand why Adidas wouldn't monetize on the opportunity because the demand really seems to be there for a few sports, but they just don't seem to make on field gear (at least replicas) being available to the public a priority.
Sounds like an Athletic Department thing, not an Adidas thing. If the Athletic Department wanted it, Adidas would make them.
The Athletic Department has guaranteed royalties from Adidas as part of the contract, so the Athletic Department gets the same income regardless of zero pieces of merchandise being sold or a billion pieces of merchandise being sold.
Generally, the Athletic Department does not sell merchandise. The exception to that is some game worn merchandise sold through special auctions and that sort of thing, but that isn't what we are talking about here.
The merchandise that we are talking about is sold by retailers, and those retailers have to go though Adidas (and other manufacturers) to get officially licensed merchandise and then sell it. While the merchandise you are buying may feel like it is coming straight from the Athletic Department, it is not and is coming from contracted partners of the Athletic Department. For example, the 12th Man Shop has clear language that the merchandise is being sold by Snow Commerce and not the actual Athletic Department. Those retailers buy directly from Adidas and are bound by what Adidas offers to those retailers to purchase and resell.
The Athletic Department can influence this situation, sure, but influencing the relationship between Adidas and any number of retailers at a micro level is not their focus.
