Dwyane Wade’s jersey drops in popularity in Europe
The Heat plays exhibition games against the New Jersey Nets in Paris on Thursday and again in London on Sunday, but guard Dwyane Wade’s jersey is no longer No. 1 in Europe. Wade had the top-selling jersey in Europe during the 2006-07 season, but fell to No. 8 last year.
Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant’s jersey topped the list in Europe for the 2007-08 season, according to the NBA. This year five European players are in the top 10, including Pau Gasol (Spain) of the Lakers; Tony Parker (France) of the San Antonio Spurs; and Andrea Bargnani (Italy) of the Toronto Raptors. Newcomers on the list are Marco Belinelli (Italy) of the Golden State Warriors and Jose Calderon (Spain) of the Raptors.
International players account for about 20 percent of NBA rosters. International sales make up more than a quarter of the league’s global merchandise business. And international visitors represent about 40 percent of the customers at the NBA Store in Manhattan.
The top 10 best-selling jerseys in Europe last season were:
1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
2. Kevin Garnett, Boston Celtics
3. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
4. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
6. Allen Iverson, Denver Nuggets
7. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors
8. Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat
9. Marco Belinelli, Golden State Warriors
10. Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
