Not surprising given that they, you know, won the World Series. But here are the numbers on offseason merchandise sales from Fanatics.com:
Top selling teams since Jan. 1
Boston Red Sox
NY Yankees
LA Dodgers
St. Louis Cardinals
SF Giants
Best Offseason Year-over-Year increases
Boston Red Sox – up 230%
Pittsburgh Pirates – up 200%
Kansas City Royals – up 175%
Top-selling MLB Players since Jan. 1
Derek Jeter
David Ortiz
Mike Trout
Dustin Pedroia
Buster Posey
The only thing that is even mildly surprising here is the presence of Royals gear going up 175%. On the one hand I do feel like there is a lot more hope and optimism among Royals fans than there used to be, and that likely translates into jersey sales. On the other hand, it’s not like some external event like a playoff appearance or a huge free agent signing or anything went down for them.
Maybe people are finally realizing that, the team itself aside, the Royals caps and jerseys are pretty sweet all things considered.