Cleveland Cavaliers fans probably care more than any other group about where LeBron James will end up this summer, but the folks at the Fanatics sports apparel company may not be far behind.
As ESPN’s Darren Rovell notes, Fanatics unveiled a program called Jersey Assurance back in November that allows fans to exchange a player’s jersey free of charge if said player changes teams within 90 days of the purchase. The company took things a step further in January when it partnered with American Express, and any jersey that was purchased with an AMEX card can be exchanged if the player changed teams within a full year after the purchase.
Although it has been known for quite some time that LeBron could leave Cleveland again, Fanatics says sales of his jersey have been up 25 percent over the past three months. Many of the people who bought those Cavs jerseys could be looking to have them as keepsakes, so they may not cash in on the exchange policy.
“Sure there’s some money at risk for us here,” Chris Orton, co-president of direct-to-consumer retail business at Fanatics, said. “But that’s in the short term. We really look at this as a marketing expense to give fans further confidence in buying their jerseys.”
Obviously, Fanatics is going to get an influx of new money if LeBron changes teams. The same can be said of Paul George and some other players if they land in new spots. The amount of people purchasing the aforementioned players’ new jerseys will far outweigh those who are exchanging old ones, so it’s not as if Fanatics is in serious trouble.
For what it’s worth, Las Vegas seems to think it’s a lock that LeBron will be wearing a new jersey at the start of next season.
