TEAM SUPPORT Ohio State merchandise sales reach new heights

The Buckeyes' run to the national championship game has created a buying frenzy.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- The Official Team Shop at Ohio State is getting so many Internet orders these days that UPS decided that there was an easier way to make its daily pickup: It leaves a trailer for store workers to fill.
Like retailers and other businesses throughout Ohio, the university store that sells Ohio State apparel, collectibles and other items is cashing in on the Buckeyes improbable run for a national championship.
"It's fun. It's once in a lifetime," Jason Hill, director of athletic merchandise for Ohio State, said from the store at the Schottenstein Center on campus where he has been working 16-hour days.
Financial marks
To put into dollars and cents the frenzy that Buckeyes fans are in over the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., against Miami consider this:
* For the first 17 days of December, the store had revenue of $500,000 compared with $189,000 for all of last December when the team was preparing for the Outback Bowl.
* Since the start of the fiscal year on July 1, sales have totaled $1.4 million compared with $1.2 million for all of the prior year.
"This is as good as it's ever been," said Rick Van Brimmer, director of trademark and licensing services for Ohio State.
The university typically collects $2.5 million a year from royalties it charges manufacturers that put Ohio State logos and names on their products. Final sales figures for the year will not be available until February.
"What we're hearing from manufacturers and retailers is that this is unprecedented for Ohio State," he said.
Unlike other universities that have taken advantage of a hot season to raise royalties, Ohio State is keeping the rate at 8 percent, Van Brimmer said. Ohio State also is refusing to license more manufacturers that want to benefit from the Buckeyes' success, keeping the number at about 400, he said.
"We're working with the same companies year in and year out," he said. "This is a real chance for them to enjoy the same success we are."
Long time coming
Hill attributes part of the success to pent up demand since it has been 34 years since Ohio State won its last national championship.
He said sales steadily picked up through the fall as the team continued to win. Popular items now include clothing that marks the team's 13-0 record or the national championship game along with glasses, flags, bobbleheads and Fiesta Bowl Beanie Babies.
Other stores also say sales have picked up over the season.
"During the year we sold a little bit, not a lot," said Shawn Ritchie, who runs Ritchie's Sporting Goods in the Akron suburb of Tallmadge. "But then after each win we sold a little bit more, then a little bit more. Now it's very hard to keep it in stock. Everybody loves a winner."
In Florida, Miami officials say sales of products continue to be as strong as last year when the Hurricanes won the Rose Bowl for the national championship.
"It's pretty amazing when you think about it," said Chris Prindiville, assistant athletic director for marketing. "The growth is exponential."
Miami is a private school with a much smaller student body than Ohio State with about 10,000 undergraduate students compared with nearly 43,000 undergraduates at all Ohio State campuses. Still, sales of its products rank with some of the country's largest schools, said Prindiville, who would not disclose sales figures.
Among the hot products: T-shirts, particularly one of school mascot, a bird called an ibis wearing a sombrero. Folklore says the bird is the last to leave before a hurricane and the first to return.
More business
Retailers are not the only beneficiary of the Fiesta Bowl. Caterers are noting a pickup for social and corporate events at what is typically a slow time after the holidays.
"It's a good way to start the year," said Lorraine Madden, event planner for Creative Cuisine Catering in Columbus. "We thank the Buckeyes for that."
Because of demand, America West Airlines added two flights to its schedule from Columbus to Phoenix, one on Dec. 31 and the second on Jan. 2. The flights return Jan. 4 and 5.
Hill said if Ohio State wins the game he has $60,000 worth of Nike products that will be ready for sale by the following afternoon when the basketball Buckeyes play Louisville at home.
"I'm almost as scared as I am excited for it because you don't know how to react," he said.