While NBA fans ponder who will emerge victorious in the fourth-straight Finals matchup between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers and debate what was going through the head of the latter’s JR Smith in last night’s series opener, aficionados need not wonder whether their hardwood heroes will prove economic winners if the contest ends in a sweep or goes seven games. According to Adobe Digital Insights’ look at Adobe Analytics information, the contenders have already made their ownership groups far richer thanks to enhanced branded merchandise sales attributable to their postseason prowess.
Each season, 30 clubs vie for supremacy in the NBA, and though there are some up-and-coming squads, one could definitely say that the haves and have-nots have remained consistent for some time. The Warriors and the Cavaliers offer proof of that, as their present duel marks the first time that major professional sports teams have squared off in a quartet of consecutive title tilts.
For a burgeoning franchise, like say Promo Marketing’s hometown Philadelphia 76ers—who this year emerged from the hellish results that comprised “The Process” to make the Eastern Conference Semifinals—a playoff berth, no matter how brief it might be, adds coins to the coffers. Of course, a longer stay means more merchandise can emerge for locals and supporters nationwide to purchase, and for the teams that triumph over three foes to reach the Finals, the benefits are bountiful.
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The aforementioned data shows that teams appearing in the NBA Finals experience a 191 percent branded merchandise revenue increase. For the Warriors and the Cavaliers (what are the preliminary odds we are again talking about them next June, too?), that will translate into huge tallies, with Adobe noting that stars Kevin Durant, seeking his second title with the Golden State club, and LeBron James, going for his second championship with the Cavaliers and fourth overall, will reap the most individual merchandise rewards.
Non-finals teams don’t do so bad themselves. Adobe explained that all postseason qualifiers typically see a 24 percent uptick in their branded merchandise totals in forming the 16-team race to the NBA crown. Conference semifinalists, such as our beloved 76ers, gain by 129 percent, with conference finalists jumping by 148 percent. That last statistic is good news for fans of the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics, who lost action-packed battles against the Warriors and Cavaliers.
According to Adobe, those setbacks will also yield sales boosts for gear representing guards James Harden, the likely MVP who almost willed Houston past the defending champion Warriors, and Kyrie Irving, a former Cavalier who could not even suit up for the Celtics against his old club due to injury. That Irving stands to benefit at all is impressive, given the amount of action he missed, and that branded merchandise news regarding its recovering star bodes well for Boston because many prognosticators will surely see the Celtics being even stronger next year with Irving and fellow sidelined scoring threat Gordon Heyward again healthy. In other words, if a fallen Irving can still influence fans to part with their cash, just think of what his return could do for his employer’s bank account come playoff time.
We would like to think our 76ers will be the beast of the East next year and render Irving’s recovery a moot point, thus leaving them to bolster their branded merchandise prowess in the City of Brotherly Love. For now, though, we are more than happy to content ourselves with watching the Warriors and Cavaliers continue to prove that, with sincerest apologies to Ric Flair, to be the man, you have to beat the man.
