Sports teams, particularly the North American franchises, have become merchandising machines. For decades, football teams in the English Premier League have changed their home and away kits each season to spur a renewed sales run, and most have third shirts for sale, too.
In the NHL, where jersey sponsors have only recently become a thing, a new effort to create new and eye-catching jerseys each season is in motion. Special events and twists like retro jerseys and Stadium Series jerseys highlight the year for collectors and fans, even if the main jerseys remain relatively unchanged year-to-year for most.
Even so, there’s a lot of money in NHL merchandising – from new pieces released each season to those from yesteryear – but what makes for a best-selling bit of memorabilia?
Historic Teams and Historic Moments
Throughout the history of the NHL, the teams that have been positioned in the most valuable US sports markets have fared the best in the merchandising arena. You don’t have to look any further than the seemingly immortal success of the New York Rangers as an NHL brand.
Back in 2018, despite the surge in interest and sales around Las Vegas’ first major league team, the Golden Knights, the Rangers continued to top the charts. Fanatics reported them as the high-selling team across all items. The recent champions, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Golden Knights, and then the Boston Bruins followed.
With the exception of the Golden Knights, all of those teams have been long-time, top-end competitors in the NHL and have garnered a strong local following. Of course, Vegas hit the ground running as well, going on to win the Stanley Cup just six seasons since the team’s inception.
Very special occasions also cause a merchandising rush. When Alex Ovechkin topped one of Wayne Gretzky’s ‘unbeatable’ record by scoring 895 NHL goals, SBJ recorded that his merchandise sales set records for the online storefront. Not much outside of winning the Cup can beat a record-breaker to cause a sales spike.
Eyes on All-Time Greats at Auction
It won’t come as a surprise that the most successful NHL teams of the past and its outright greatest ever player dominate memorabilia auctions. Across the most popular auction platforms, it’s the Montréal Canadiens that have most items up for sale, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers.
This study into collectibles on auction from Betano found a flip from volume to real value. The Edmonton Oilers commanded the highest fee for an ensemble of their most expensive collectibles. At $282,845, this sum was more than double that of the next-best – the Habs.
As you’d expect, across the most valuable categories of merch – hockey stick, trading card, jersey, and puck – the Oilers dominated mostly because of one player. Wayne Gretzky’s 1983/84 Nike jersey and Career Collection O-Pee-Chee card topped their categories, while a 1/1 Leon Draisaitl stick wins the most valuable category (hockey sticks).
NHL memorabilia, particularly jerseys, continue to sell very well across the board. However, it takes truly special players, seasons, and dynasties to forge the most desirable and valuable merchandise in the long run.
