Blackhawks fans: it’s time to ditch the knockoff sweater

[doniceage]

My wife and I both work good jobs with no kids, and we sit in the 5th row at Verizon Center. There aren't many "families" that sit there. The only kids that show up are the rich kids of the lawyers who have the VIP seats in the first few rows. All of the STHs that sat around us when we first got tickets 17 years ago are now gone. Its all "company" tickets and clients, so we basically see new people every game, and we're lucky if half the time they are wearing Caps colors. No more hard-core fans -- anyone we see more than once just belongs to a smaller company where there aren't that many hockey fans, and they can get them more than once a season. And yet ownership complains when there are so many visiting jerseys in the stands -- even though they have priced out real fans and visitors don't feel bad paying $500 for a seat in a road barn once a year.

We have even resorted to selling some of our games online because when you are paying $200/seat for 45 games a year (you have to buy pre-season too) and you can get $400 for a game here or there, it only makes sense. We basically sell some of our regular season tix to help pay for the playoffs.

Hopefully, you get a discount at that price. I have never paid more than a $100 per ticket and I thought that was bad. Of course I sit up in the upper arena most of the time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!


Don

[doniceage]

With the NHL jersey license shifting to Adidas-branded, I hope to see major changes in the counterfeit jersey market. Not only do counterfeit products hurt the teams and players, they also hurt the legitimate retailers that stock these products. Unfortunately, shutting down counterfeiters in China is a difficult process and for every one that is closed, ten others appear in place. I do know that Adidas is trying to take counterfeit prevention to the next level and it is intended for the consumer who wants to purchase an authentic product. The retail authentic jersey will feature a smart chip that can be read with any NFC equipped smartphone with the help of an Adidas Authentication App.

It shocks me to see that people will purchase counterfeit jerseys, but complain about fake patches or autographs.

For those of you who are on the fence, now is a good time to buy authentic NHL Jerseys. Most retailers are blowing out the Reebok Edge jerseys to make room for the new Adidas jerseys that will be hitting inventory in September. HockeyMonkey was offering jerseys for Buy One, Get One Free and during a separate promotion, 50% off all Reebok NHL Apparel. Most of the team stores are having blowout sales, especially on the player named jerseys. Shop.nhl.com has also reduced their pricing, but they are still higher than most. A jersey is a one time purchase, it's about the price of a box of SP Authentic and you know your odds of getting positive ROI are greater.

Definitely right about a good time to buy jerseys as they need to clean out inventory of the older stuff. Nice seeing you around again.


Don'

[doniceage]

With the NHL jersey license shifting to Adidas-branded, I hope to see major changes in the counterfeit jersey market. Not only do counterfeit products hurt the teams and players, they also hurt the legitimate retailers that stock these products. Unfortunately, shutting down counterfeiters in China is a difficult process and for every one that is closed, ten others appear in place. I do know that Adidas is trying to take counterfeit prevention to the next level and it is intended for the consumer who wants to purchase an authentic product. The retail authentic jersey will feature a smart chip that can be read with any NFC equipped smartphone with the help of an Adidas Authentication App.

It shocks me to see that people will purchase counterfeit jerseys, but complain about fake patches or autographs.

For those of you who are on the fence, now is a good time to buy authentic NHL Jerseys. Most retailers are blowing out the Reebok Edge jerseys to make room for the new Adidas jerseys that will be hitting inventory in September. HockeyMonkey was offering jerseys for Buy One, Get One Free and during a separate promotion, 50% off all Reebok NHL Apparel. Most of the team stores are having blowout sales, especially on the player named jerseys. Shop.nhl.com has also reduced their pricing, but they are still higher than most. A jersey is a one time purchase, it's about the price of a box of SP Authentic and you know your odds of getting positive ROI are greater.

Definitely right about a good time to buy jerseys as they need to clean out inventory of the older stuff. Nice seeing you around again.


Don'

[sparty07]

I heard rumor that the new Authentic Adizero will be $300+. This is ridiculous and is the reason people will buy China fakes. Adidas can shut down the fakers by pricing their product at a level that will entice fans to buy the real deal vs. the fake. Bring those jerseys down to $150 and the premium to the $60 range and I bet you'll see a lot less fakes on the market. And just wait for a few years from now when you will be paying that much just to do some free advertising for whoever sponsors said team/player.

[doniceage]

I heard rumor that the new Authentic Adizero will be $300+. This is ridiculous and is the reason people will buy China fakes. Adidas can shut down the fakers by pricing their product at a level that will entice fans to buy the real deal vs. the fake. Bring those jerseys down to $150 and the premium to the $60 range and I bet you'll see a lot less fakes on the market. And just wait for a few years from now when you will be paying that much just to do some free advertising for whoever sponsors said team/player.

I hope there not $300 a jersey. Another factor that kills jersey sales is folks know there favorite player might not be there tomorrow.

Don

[10-4 collector]

I am a proud owner of over 10 knockoffs jerseys. I use them to play in my league. They're about the cost of a practice jersey. I will never pay 350can$ for a jersey. Ridiculous. The quality isn't bad either.

[30ranfordfan]

Hope there is not a $300 jersey? Maybe I'm crazy but I am under the impression that they're already here.

I can remember in the 1990s an actual pro-quality jersey, with name, numbers, fight strap, etc (i.e. something identical to what the player would wear) cost close to that before taxes.

I never had an issue with the cost of the pro ones, but to get an NHL licensed replica.... if you want one done up with the name & numbers of your favorite player, it's going to cost a lot. You can buy the RBK ones at a discount now.... but I think they run around $200 CND (before taxes) for something customized (if you want one of the more popular players, they may have that jersey in stock and it often costs a little bit less).

The cost of replicas is the reason why fakes have become such a big thing. It' not much different than the problem Ontario has with cigarettes.... the price (with taxes) is around $15 per pack, while you can buy many native brands (if you go to an Indian reserve) for $10-$30 per carton.

While the products are completely different, the issue is still the same. People want the product, but it's been priced at a level where many people feel they can't afford it - and are willing to buy a knockoff version (even if the quality is less) for a fraction of the price.

In the case of tobacco... the government complains about lost revenues.... in the case of jersey's it's the league & PA.

In both cases, if prices were lowered to meet what consumers would actually pay (and I don't believe matching the low price of the contraband stuff is necessary) you'd put the fakes out of business (and still make money in the process)

I hope there not $300 a jersey. Another factor that kills jersey sales is folks know there favorite player might not be there tomorrow.

Don

[pwskelly]

I heard rumor that the new Authentic Adizero will be $300+. This is ridiculous and is the reason people will buy China fakes. Adidas can shut down the fakers by pricing their product at a level that will entice fans to buy the real deal vs. the fake. Bring those jerseys down to $150 and the premium to the $60 range and I bet you'll see a lot less fakes on the market. And just wait for a few years from now when you will be paying that much just to do some free advertising for whoever sponsors said team/player.

The day the NHL starts placing advertisements on player jerseys is the day I will refuse to purchase one, regardless of the price. At that point they should be handing them out for free, trying to convince people to advertise for them.

[RGM81]

I actually like the "fake" ones more. First I can get 5 of them for the price of a "real" one. And they are more realistic. The numbers are actually stitched on unlike the numbers on the real ones and they have a fight strap. I cant really tell a difference.

I will gladly buy fakes every time.

What?

I can tell within 5 seconds of looking at a Habs jersey if it's real or a knock-off. The idea that a poorly-stitched, off-centre, poorly cut name-plate, wrong colour number pattern jersey is "more realistic" doesn't carry water.

[geschrocks33]

The new "authentic" Adidas jerseys are going to be $250 lettered. Can't wait to see what debauchery Fanatics puts out as a replica.


Some fakes are OK in the sense they look pretty close. I have a few in my collection that I probably just grabbed because I need something quick for a signing, or bought because they were very cheap. Some of them are very close. I have seen some poor ones, and I think they just keep getting worse. Certain teams have certain small details to their jerseys that end up missing with fakes. The Avalanche had the sort of "icy" look in their numbers if you looked up close, that makes their fakes awful. Detroit fakes always had the nameplate font completely wrong. Sometimes the colors are just not even in the same world as the real ones. Some are OK but give me the real stuff whenever possible. Haven't purchased a fake in awhile and I think I have very few in my jersey collection.