Like Carson Palmer, Bengals gear sat out most of ’08 seasonMerchandise sales fell 40%

Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Steve Watkins Staff Reporter

The Cincinnati Bengals’ losing season wasn’t just confined to the field. Merchandise sales suffered with the team.

Sales of Bengals merchandise have fallen by about 40 percent this fiscal year, according to estimates from Matt Powell, analyst with Charlotte, N.C.-based SportsOneSource, which tracks sporting goods sales at retail outlets across the country.

The Bengals’ share of NFL merchandise sales fell from 3 percent last year to 2 percent this year through the week of Christmas, Powell said. His firm uses a fiscal year ending in January, as most retailers do. The pie shrank, too. Powell estimates the entire market for NFL gear fell 13 percent, from $3.6 billion last year to $3.2 billion this year.

So by his figures, Bengals merchandise sales nationwide dropped from about $108 million in fiscal 2007 to $64 million this fiscal year.


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