In case you've been in total freak out mode about the availability of Chad Ocho Cinco jerseys, well, keep on freakin', because you might not be seeing them for a while.
No, the NFL's not angry enough to keep 85 from slinging jerseys -- it wouldn't behoove them financially to do that. But, if Reebok caves and swaps the jersey now, think about how many "Chad Johnson" jerseys the wouldn't be able to sell. Yeah. A lot. Darren Rovell explains.
Reebok, which makes the league's jerseys, and licensees have to protect themselves from a player suddenly changing their number (it's normally not a name), so they make them change whatever they need to change months before the season. Failure to do so means that a change likely won't be made that season.That's right. Someone finally found a sticking point for Ocho Cinco's name change and potential marketing boom, recording one catch for 22 yards against the freaking Ravens on the first Sunday of the 2008 season aside.
The sticking point is that for a receiver of Johnson's caliber, there's likely as much as 100,000 "C. Johnson" jerseys, not only in Reebok inventory, but in store shelves around the country.
If Johnson wanted to buy out all the jerseys, a source with knowledge of the situation said it would cost him the cost to make the jersey, which is roughly 60 percent of the retail price. That would be about $48 a jersey or $4.8 million if that 100,000 number is reality.
I would guess that Reebok could probably reach a settlement with the wide receiver on this one though. There's a ton of marketing potential for the Ocho Cinco jersey, assuming he doesn't have a total meltdown and fail to score again.
The benefit of such a deal is that both Reebok and 85 could tell the public that they felt there was too much of a need for the everyman to get these jerseys and so they pulled the cash out of their pockets to help all those fortunate Bengals fans out. Of course, since it would probably cost (Ed. Note: edit) nothing south of about $2 million dollars to get this done, I can totally see Johnson doing it.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-08-2008 @ 5:49PM
WondrousHippo said...
We have a catch-22 here:
- People won't buy C. Johnson jerseys because they want Ocho Cinco jereseys
- We won't get Ocho Cinco jerseys because the C. Johnson jerseys need to sell through
Also, if anyone saw it on The Smoking Gun, apparently his last name is all one word, no space (so OchoCinco, Ochocinco, or however you want to capitalize it), which is interesting, I guess. All I know is that I won't be buying my Ocho Cinco jersey until it actually says Ocho Cinco on it.
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9-08-2008 @ 6:16PM
Bob A Ganoush said...
Planet earth to Ocho Cinco. No one cares what you call yourself. As for your jersey. Ocho No is all I say.
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9-08-2008 @ 6:51PM
the nut said...
who cares, the guy is a moron
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9-08-2008 @ 7:01PM
Dr Huxtable said...
Since it's $4.8 Million and not $48 Million, the $15 Million figure that you pulled straight out of your ass should probably be corrected as well.
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9-08-2008 @ 7:25PM
Brinson said...
Yes, yes. I fixed it before I even read the comments. Thank you though, for the kind words.
9-08-2008 @ 8:00PM
Dr Huxtable said...
You are most welcome. And I'm surprised and impressed by the acknowledgment of the edit. Most people *cough* Michael Smith *cough* just edit and pretend it never happened.
9-08-2008 @ 8:11PM
matt said...
thank you for the horrific writing skills
Reply
9-08-2008 @ 8:45PM
Brinson said...
You're welcome?
9-08-2008 @ 8:32PM
pete said...
I don't know where they come up with $48.00 to make these jerseys. I used to buy a lot of stuff to support my team, hats ect
but all this stuff is made over seas and probably costs a fraction of what they sell it for. You can buy a good ball cap for under 10 bucks but put a team name on it and nfl and the price is over $20 for the same quality hat.
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9-09-2008 @ 8:03AM
newsandverse said...
85
NEWSWIRE--Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson has legally changed his last name to OchoCinco (Spanish for "eight, five") in recognition of his uniform number.
It dozen matter if you meant to,
Or if you had a strong in ten to;
It dozen matter how you run
Or whether you have lost or one.
It dozen need a great debate
(Unless it's caused by what I eight):
Words and numbers should not mix;
Four them two do so makes me six.
www.newsandverse.com
Light verse, ripped from the headlines
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