3 major colleges to stop selling jersey numbers of star players

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Normally I don't like doing more than one thread in a day, but this is some pretty big news.

Arizona, Northwestern and Texas A&M will not be selling the jersey numbers of star players this season. Instead, they will move to generic numbers. 

Example: A&M sold thousands of #2 jerseys last year. This year, they will only sell #12. For the 12th man tradition they have.

A couple of posters on here were mentioning this topic on Twitter so I thought it'd be interesting. 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/11036531/three-colleges-stop-selling-jerseys-numbers-star-players

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WolvinLA2

June 5th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^

Your premise is true, but in reality it doesn't matter much who the star is.  Had Denard Robinson never come to Michigan, the number of jersey sales those years would have been pretty similar, I would bet.  Because instead of people buying #16, they would have bought Tate's or Devin's jersey (since one of those guys would have been the QB) or Brandon Minor or Greg Mathews or something.  Sure, fans want to buy the jersey of their favorite player, but if that guy wasn't on the team, they would just have a different guy as their favorite player.  

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WolvinLA2

June 6th, 2014 at 12:15 PM ^

It's amazing to me that more people don't agree with this.  If I had a business, and people were LINING UP to work for me, would anyone think I was exploiting my employees?  This isn't a migrant laborer situation where employees are tricked into working for me or trapped or something.  They are very aware of what they are signing up for, yet kids are dying to sign up.  And why wouldn't they?  Free education, free room $ board, a bunch of free top of the line athletic gear, free elite-level training both in terms of S&C and coaching, opportunity to be on national television nearly (if not) every week, being idolized by thousands (many of whom are hot and willing females), and the opportunity to continue playing the sport you love at a high level for at least another 4 years.  

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Voltron is Handsome

June 5th, 2014 at 7:34 PM ^

That sucks. I would hate that. Perhaps fans of those schools can still get star player jerseys from China like I have done twice.

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Voltron is Handsome

June 5th, 2014 at 7:40 PM ^

I wonder why M athletic department doesn't offer Jake Ryan's jersey. I wish they would so those companies in China would make them also, then I would get one for $25 with stitched numbers and letters as opposed to a rip-off of $210 with no name on the back.

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chatster

June 5th, 2014 at 9:17 PM ^

The real winners in what appears to be a lose-lose outcome for the schools, the fans and the star players who most likely appreciate seeing their numbers worn all over the world will be the overseas online sellers that, for a more modest price than what you’d pay at MDen or Moe’s or Modell’s or Dick’s Sporting Goods or Sports Authority, will produce and sell to anyone almost every kind of custom-made jersey you might want.
 
Want an authentic Lionel Messi Argentina or FC Barcelona jersey?   Want the USA’s current World Cup home and away jerseys with the number 10 and “Donovan” (instead of Miskerud) hand-stitched on the back?  How about a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey with the number 11 and “Frazier” hand-stitched on the back?  (Yes, New York Knicks great Walt “Clyde” Frazier ended his career as a member of the Cavs.)
 
You might like an authentic Michigan football jersey with the number 98 and “Harmon” or "Gardner" hand-stitched on the back.  Or how about that same Michigan football jersey with the number 2 and “Peppers” hand-stitched on the back?
 
Or maybe, in some perverted, drug-induced stupor you decide that you'd like an authentic Ohio State football jersey with the number 1 and “Michigan” hand-stitched on the back?  You might be able to get that, too.  Though I’m not saying that you could wear it in either Ann Arbor or Columbus.

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