Did you know that, on average, nearly 15,000 searches for the term “merchandise sports” at Google every month? Do you know what they’re searching for?
I have a good idea what most of these folks are searching to find, but that idea covers a pretty broad range of items. Most are looking for some sports merchandise that has an officially licensed team logo. Some are searching to find gear related to a particular sport, such as pads and other protective gear for sports like football, soccer, or hockey.
For those seeking officially licensed sports merchandise, the term encompasses a variety of sports including (but not limited to):
Major League Baseball (MLB merchandise)
the National Football League teams (NFL merchandise)
College team merchandise (NCAA merchandise)
the National Basketball Association teams (NBA merchandise)
the National Hockey League teams (NHL merchandise)
NASCAR merchandise
With all of these sports teams, there is a set of merchandise that is common to all. For instance, in all these sports, you can usually find flags and banners, as well as blankets, wallets, and checkbook covers.
Certain merchandise items will be common to a sport. An example of this is the WinCraft snack helmet. The snack helmet is a plastic football helmet with a top compartment for chips and front compartments for dip or nuts, or other snack items. The snack helmet is common to NCAA and NFL teams as a standard offering. It is used at tailgate and house parties associated with game day for the sports team.
Another example of a sports merchandise offering common to a particular sport is the Hoop & Net Set. This standard small basketball and hoop can be mounted to a door or wall in a bedroom, sports room, or dorm room. Of course, it’s used to play “basketball” in a confined space. Not real basketball, mind you, just a quick set of hoops to clear the mind or help concentrate on the latest homework assignment.
A new line of sports merchandise products with the official team logo and colors that have become very popular due to the massive growth of home and laptop computers is the team logo mouse and mouse pad. This is a common gift for a fan of any sports team.
Less common but still available at many online locations are team logo tools. These include tape measures, hammers, screwdrivers, staplers, and the mouse and mouse pad mentioned above. Since the tools themselves typically have no sports‘ theme, they are common to many different sports and found as sports merchandise offerings for NFL, NCAA, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NASCAR teams. I say the tools themselves have no particular sports’ theme, but that is not entirely true. For instance, you can often locate hammers in two different varieties for many NCAA teams. One variety has the hammer handle simulate football laces. Another variety has the handle simulate baseball laces. So, even among the non-themed items, there are occasional sport-specific trimmings.
If you are one of the 15,000, who have searched for “sports merchandise,” let me encourage you to narrow your search to either a specific team or a specific set of items. For instance, if you search for a snack helmet for the San Francisco 49ers, then type into the search engine of your choice that specific search. If you are looking for a gift for a sports fan, type in the search term window the specific team name followed by the term “merchandise” or “gear.” This will save you time and clicks and get you closer to finding whatever you need.
