With the Buffalo Bills capturing their first AFC East division crown in 25 years, fans will want hats of their own to celebrate with.
They will be eager to scoop up caps and shirts emblazoned with "AFC East Champs," especially since that gear from the '95 division title is looking about as hip as a Starter jacket.
Retailers will be scrambling to stock up on the timely merchandise. As the Bills were beating the Broncos on Saturday, Laux Sporting Goods was preparing for a shipment of 72 "AFC East Champs" hats from New Era Cap to arrive Monday or Tuesday at its Walden Galleria store.
"That's the plan," said Nick Kolbe, a store manager.
Kolbe said he was hopeful Laux could also get its hands on division champs shirts to sell, knowing that fans would snap them up.
Brandon Williams of the sports merchandise website Fanatics said the company would be ready to sell Bills AFC East champs merchandise across its network of online and mobile stores "within minutes of the clinch." Williams noted that the Bills have been a top-10 selling NFL team across the Fanatics network since the start of the season.
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Wegmans is also getting ready. "There will definitely be fan interest," said Michele Mehaffy, a spokeswoman for the supermarket chain, which sells Bills gear. "We are being told that the items would take two to four days to turn around."
Retailers faced a similar late-season surge in interest in 2017, when the Bills made the playoffs to end a 17-year drought. In January 2018, sports business analyst Darren Rovell reported sales of Bills merchandise had spiked nearly 400% on Fanatics websites within days of the team clinching a berth, an increase that blew away that of any other playoff team.
When the Bills last won the AFC East in 1995, it was the team's sixth division title in eight seasons. The four trips to the Super Bowl were still a fresh memory. Who knew '95 division champs gear would turn into a collector's item?
As 25 years have rolled by, the Patriots, Dolphins, Jets and even the Colts – who have left the division – have each claimed AFC East titles. Winning the division is once again a milestone Bills fan have clamored for, if they can even remember or were around for the last one.
So, retailers should expect from Bills fans "about 25 years of pent-up demand," said John Cimperman, who runs the sports consultancy Barnstorm Sports + Entertainment.
The trick, of course, is getting the merchandise available to fans as quickly as possible.
"Teams, league officials, and licensees work out logistics for all scenarios," Cimperman said. "Commemorative merchandise is produced prior to the historical event or win in hopes it can be used. If not, it never sees the light of day."
Matt Glynn
