Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY Sports
During the 2012-13 NBA season, the Los Angeles Clippers finished at 54-26, which stands as the most wins ever in the Clippers’ history, including their stints in San Diego and as the Buffalo Braves. They also finished fourth in the deep Western Conference. Their strong performances these last few seasons have led to increases in ticket seat sales and jersey sales. Did you know that last season, only six NBA teams had a sellout for every regular season game? They were the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and yours truly, the Clippers. So while Los Angeles Lakers fans still proclaim that Los Angeles bleeds purple and gold, they do not prove it in game attendance.
In jersey sales, the Clippers are rising as well. According to sales figures from the NBA store online and on Fifth Avenue in New York, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin‘s jerseys rank at ninth and 10th respectively with team merchandise ranking at eighth overall. In international jersey sales, Griffin’s jersey is ranked ninth.
Several factors contribute to the Clippers’ merchandise sales. The Clippers are winning games. They have two likeable and popular stars in Paul and Griffin. Paul has his State Farm insurance commercials where he also plays as his “twin” brother, Cliff. Meanwhile, Griffin has a sponsorship with Kia motorcars and recently his Jordan Super Fly 2 shoes have received airtime. These endorsements lead to greater exposure to the general public about who they are. Finally, the Clippers play exciting basketball. Their moniker is “Lob City.” In just about every game, there are dunks that catch your breath. For example, Deandre Jordan had one of the sickest dunks when he finished a lob over the helpless Brandon Knight. One Youtube clip of the dunk has over 11 million views. It goes to show that the Clippers have overtaken the Lakers in popularity to some extent after being in their rival’s shadow for decades.
Robert Lin is a writer for Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @rlin2k or on Google.
