College Sports Merchandise Finding Wider Distribution Online

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Oct. 17, 2000--As traditional brick-and-mortar retailers reduce their inventories of licensed college sports merchandise, fans and alumni are turning to the Internet.

Over the last several years, traditional retailers have cut back significantly on their buys of officially licensed sports merchandise such as football jerseys and caps. Mall-based chains that once carried caps, polos, T-shirts, and jerseys from dozens of colleges, now offer merchandise from only a few major schools such as Florida State, Michigan, or Colorado.

For a San Diego State alum living in Miami, finding SDSU merchandise at the local sports shop or department store is unlikely if not impossible.

But it goes beyond ''displaced fans,'' those who live outside of their favorite team`s market. Today, with sports merchandise drying up at the major chain stores, even hometown fans are finding it difficult to locate a good selection of products for the local schools and teams.

''I have trouble finding University of Houston gear at local stores and I live 10 minutes from the campus,'' said Rich Papaioannou, a college football fan who graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. ''Finding stuff for the big state schools like Tennessee and Florida isn`t a problem. But for people like me who went to smaller schools, the college bookstore is really the only place you can get something with your school`s logo on it.''

Enter the Internet.

Companies like eFANshop, a Dallas-based start-up that operates the online sports stores for major Web sites, including MSNBCSports.com, are not only helping fans get the stuff they want, but are giving vendors and licensees who make products for colleges a reason to be optimistic.

Online sports stores like eFANshop (www.efanshop.com) provide licensees (such as Antigua and Champion) with a channel to showcase a wide selection of their products, instead of just the two or three that show up in brick-and-mortar stores like JC Penney or Foot Locker.

''Vendors, especially smaller ones, who have spent money securing licenses to sell products with college logos on them are looking for ways to get their merchandise in front of consumers,'' said Scott Blackwell, a Texas Tech graduate and the college and pro product manager for eFANshop. ''We give them a storefront where literally thousands of consumers are shopping every day. We both win because they`re getting to showcase their stuff to a wider audience and we`re offering a wider selection to our customers.''

Online retailers -- known as ''e-tailers'' -- also help to generate additional royalties for colleges by helping licensees increase their sales. E-tailers also provide smaller schools with additional visibility. Consumers whose selection was previously limited to a few big state schools can now find a variety of merchandise from dozens of smaller schools and private colleges.

''I went online last night and bought a Wichita State birdhouse as a birthday gift for a guy I work with who went there,'' said Papaioannou. ''You`re not going to find something like that at the local Kmart store. The Internet is the only place that`s available.''

Founded last year by 40-year-old Marc Andres, a UCLA grad, eFANshop online stores like the one at MSNBCsports.com currently feature products for 165 college teams -- from Washington to Weber State, Minnesota to Morehouse.