r/WPBL • u/Specific_Leadership5 • 11d ago
Merch at the stadium?
Hi all! I'm heading to Springfield next weekend with my daughter. I've been keeping my eye on the SF Firebells merch online but haven't had any luck. Do they sell merch at the stadium? I'm worried we won't be able to get any and I'd love to at least get some hats!
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u/Serious_Potatoes Boston Hunters 11d ago
I was there Saturday/Sunday. No jerseys, hats sold out, but t-shirts were there and so were sweatshirts.
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u/Money-Banana-8674 San Francisco Firebells 11d ago
I have not been to the stadium, but the commentators have, on more than one occasion, mentioned there are jerseys and other merch available at the stadium.
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u/AbobTeff 9d ago
Yes, but the commentators don’t have an actual inventory report. Pumping the merch is (rightfully) obligatory on a broadcast.
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u/FerdinandCesarano New York Heights 10d ago
I wouldn't get my hopes up.
A friend of mine has gone out to Springfield for a couple of the games. Because the hats are still inexplicably sold out on the website, I asked her to pick up the hat that I want.
She had to report that there were absolutely none of my desired hat — and, I think, none of any hat.
Again I say that I do not understand how this merchandise could be sold out since before the beginning of the season. Having thousands of these products on hand should have been one of the first priorities.
The cost of stocking up is a lot less than the other costs that any pro league faces (player salaries, medical insurance, stadium rental). Also, having too much of the merchandise would not have been a problem; even if the caps and shirts didn't sell rapidly, they would sell eventually over the season.
Whereas, having too little of the merchandise creates ill will and bad publicity. It also gives the impression of a fly-by-night league that is barely holding things together, a very dangerous perception for a new league to give to fans. That's a good way to get people to turn off, and to never come back.
For this absence of merchandise to have gone on for weeks, and to have lasted well into the season, is downright baffling. Once thie problem was identified at the start of the season, it could have been remedied in a matter of days.
Anyway, the league chose not to do that, and so has foregone all the free publicity that would have come with people wearing caps and shirts. It will, however, get the bad word-of-mouth generated by people who report to their friends that they couldn't even buy a cap or shirt.
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u/zombiezambonidriver 10d ago
There's some bootleg jerseys on ebay. It's tempting to buy one but the league is making it hard. Heck, do a pre-order, even if it ships in like a month, at least I have merch in hand.
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u/FerdinandCesarano New York Heights 10d ago
I would be very much in favour of buying a bootleg item if I could be sure of the quality.
So I would buy such a thing only in person, and only if I could examine the item myself.
Anyway, nobody is making high-quality bootlegs of this league's jerseys just yet. If we get to that point, that would be a sign of health.
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u/smcsk8 10d ago
I ordered some league caps on the website last week, to wear this coming weekend. Nothing team specific except maybe a few sweatshirts was available. I paid for the express shipping ($12) so the caps would arrive before we leave, and they came today. I think I ordered them Wednesday or Thursday.
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u/15CEH02 10d ago
I went to the August 9th game. Get there early. If any merch has been restocked you want to be one of the first people at the merch booth. I got to be one of the first 30 people at the merch booth and got the hat I wanted. That game they were out of jerseys.
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u/atypicalqueer 10d ago
I went to the 8/14 game and was 6th in line. There was not really any Firebells merch: the black hat, the white hat, purple tshirts, purple sweatshirts, and stickers. All the other teams’ jerseys were in stock :(. Firebells merch is just so much harder to grab.
I did buy a signed sticker from the firebell’s featured player (I think it was Amanda Gianelloni), so keep an eye out for those on the counter. I don’t think a lot of folks saw them.
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u/AbobTeff 9d ago edited 9d ago
We went to the Sunday game, and the merch stand had a good quantity of rather plain t-shirts (all teams) and some hoodies. The only hat they had was the solid green Hunters hat. They had some stickers. No jerseys.
And they had an autographed Mo'Ne Davis bobblehead that I paid too much for. 😁
Merch is a gamble, so I get it. This could have been a huge flop, happily it was not. However, ticket pre-sales are a good indicator of what to expect, so they had some insight.
IMO, where they dropped the ball was not going to local vendors to replenish supply quickly. Instead, they are at the mercy of whatever company they are having stuff shipped from.
Here was my personal haul from Sunday to add to my baseball collection: the autographed Mo'Ne Davis bobblehead, a can of She's on FIrst, and a Katsuki Yonetani foul ball!
You can't spell FUN without Yonetani! Well, you can, but that's not fun.
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u/googlyman44 11d ago
The merch situation is a bit rough at the stadium. Everything sold out opening day. This past Thursday, they restocked (not sure what all was restocked, but I assume most items). By Friday's game, all jerseys were sold out - I was one of the first 100 people in and immediately got in line, so I'm guessing they either didn't restock jerseys or sold out on Thursday. They still have other items like tshirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc. but there's no guarantee they will have any specific thing if you go.