WSJ Article: Which All-Stars Rule eBay?
thunderdan
Posts: 3,036 ✭✭✭
Not that surprising, especially the Mantle dollars. I was surprised how far behind (in merchandise sales) Pujols is to Jeter. Guess it really speaks to more fans of the Yankees than the Cardinals. I'm sure others will chime in...
Forget Home Runs, Which All-Stars Rule eBay?
By every common statistical measure Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is superior to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. But not on eBay, where popularity and pinstripes trump production.
From June 5 to July 5, the merchandise of the 64 players originally voted to the 2009 All-Star Game represented nearly $850,000 in sales on eBay, with an average of $13,267 per player. But the popularity of the Yankee captain is evident, as his merchandise (which counts everything from autographs to a Derek Jeter tote bag) totaled $199,176, nearly 2 ½ times more than Mr. Pujols, who ranked third with $83,646 in sales. Last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, Evan Longoria, came in second at $86,182. Joe Mauer and Ichiro Suzuki rounded out the top five. At $5,000, Mr. Suzuki’s autographed Japanese World Baseball Classic jersey (which was also signed by the rest of his team) was the priciest item sold.
To little surprise, the Red Sox and Yankees rule the eBay sales standings. The nine All-Stars from these two clubs averaged $39,921 of sold merchandise. It also doesn’t pay to be a reliever—they held four of the bottom five spots in eBay sales, including Reds’ reliever Francisco Cordero, whose name garnered the lowest ranking of any All-Star over this time period with $42 in total sales.
Clearly, name cachet is vital. Ken Griffey Jr. didn’t get voted in, but his name brought in $173,417. Likewise, Alex Rodriguez merchandise went for $157,911. Still, Mr. Jeter and the current Yankee stars can’t hold a candle to the legends. During these 30 days, Mickey Mantle represented $745,436 worth of eBay sales.
Forget Home Runs, Which All-Stars Rule eBay?
By every common statistical measure Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is superior to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. But not on eBay, where popularity and pinstripes trump production.
From June 5 to July 5, the merchandise of the 64 players originally voted to the 2009 All-Star Game represented nearly $850,000 in sales on eBay, with an average of $13,267 per player. But the popularity of the Yankee captain is evident, as his merchandise (which counts everything from autographs to a Derek Jeter tote bag) totaled $199,176, nearly 2 ½ times more than Mr. Pujols, who ranked third with $83,646 in sales. Last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, Evan Longoria, came in second at $86,182. Joe Mauer and Ichiro Suzuki rounded out the top five. At $5,000, Mr. Suzuki’s autographed Japanese World Baseball Classic jersey (which was also signed by the rest of his team) was the priciest item sold.
To little surprise, the Red Sox and Yankees rule the eBay sales standings. The nine All-Stars from these two clubs averaged $39,921 of sold merchandise. It also doesn’t pay to be a reliever—they held four of the bottom five spots in eBay sales, including Reds’ reliever Francisco Cordero, whose name garnered the lowest ranking of any All-Star over this time period with $42 in total sales.
Clearly, name cachet is vital. Ken Griffey Jr. didn’t get voted in, but his name brought in $173,417. Likewise, Alex Rodriguez merchandise went for $157,911. Still, Mr. Jeter and the current Yankee stars can’t hold a candle to the legends. During these 30 days, Mickey Mantle represented $745,436 worth of eBay sales.
0
Comments
I've never seen numbers tallied, or broken down like that..
To monitor, do/did you import to excel or similar?
1) He's been in the league longer, therefore more fans have had time to idol-worship Jeter as opposed to Pujols.
2) Even though Jeter is mixed-race, most of the country identifies him as white, and I think that being that in the United States that the population is still majority white, that they identify with Jeter ahead of Pujols, whom some fans may not like simply because he is foreign born.
3) Jeter has not had the steroid rumors hanging over his head, as there has been much speculation about Pujols.
I don't know which of the three is strongest.
<< <i>Three parts to my theory on why Jeter is selling more than Pujols
1) He's been in the league longer, therefore more fans have had time to idol-worship Jeter as opposed to Pujols.
2) Even though Jeter is mixed-race, most of the country identifies him as white, and I think that being that in the United States that the population is still majority white, that they identify with Jeter ahead of Pujols, whom some fans may not like simply because he is foreign born.
3) Jeter has not had the steroid rumors hanging over his head, as there has been much speculation about Pujols.
I don't know which of the three is strongest. >>
If #2 is true, that is specific to baseball fans. In other sports race doesn't factor into popularity unless it is a white NBA player that can dunk (or a black hockey player that can score goals). In the NFL popularity is based on position and team.
Personally I don't think race is a factor between Pujols and Jeter. It is simply because Jeter is a Yankee and has a lot of WS rings.
<< <i>Three parts to my theory on why Jeter is selling more than Pujols
1) He's been in the league longer, therefore more fans have had time to idol-worship Jeter as opposed to Pujols.
2) Even though Jeter is mixed-race, most of the country identifies him as white, and I think that being that in the United States that the population is still majority white, that they identify with Jeter ahead of Pujols, whom some fans may not like simply because he is foreign born.
3) Jeter has not had the steroid rumors hanging over his head, as there has been much speculation about Pujols.
I don't know which of the three is strongest. >>
I think the biggest factor is that there are more fans of the new york yankees who spend more money on yankees memorabilia. Jeter is the most popular of all current Yankees. I think it really all comes down to the eastern seaboard having many, many more people than the midwest, which is largely where the Cardinal fan base resides.
Tabe
<< <i>"Even though Jeter is mixed-race, most of the country identifies him as white" - seriously? Are they really people that think Jeter is white? >>
/////////////////////////////
I doubt that too many folks think of DJ as "white."
His racial background is the same as that of Barack Obama.
I have found, way before the term "post-racial" was thought of, that
very few sports fans really care much what color their team is. This
was true when the Atlanta Crackers were playing their final years,
and it was true when the Braves arrived.
As long as the Yankees are the most collected team, their players will be too.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Updated: September 27, 2005, 2:50 AM ET
Report: Letter calls Jeter 'traitor to his race'
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- New York Yankees star Derek Jeter received a threatening letter that reportedly warned he'd be "shot or set on fire" if he didn't stop dating white women.
The FBI is investigating "racially threatening letters to Jeter and others across the country," special agent Scott Wilson said Monday by phone from Cleveland. He declined to comment further.
Jeter downplayed what he called the "stupid letter," saying he did not perceive it as a specific threat. Jeter told ESPN that the letter was received back in April and called it no big deal.
The Daily News reported that the hate mail to the Yankees' 31-year-old captain called him a "traitor to his race" for dating white women. It warned him "to stop or he'll be shot or set on fire," the paper said in Monday editions, quoting an unidentified law enforcement source.
Similar threatening letters denouncing interracial relationships have been sent to other public figures in recent months, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Jason Taylor and the parents of tennis star James Blake. The threats have been traced to the Cleveland area.
Jeter, who was in Baltimore on Monday for a game against the Orioles, said he heard about the letter two or three months ago and did not feel threatened by it.
"It wasn't like, 'I'm going to do this to you. I'm going to do that to you,'" Jeter said. "It was just a stupid letter. I've gotten stupid letters before. That's basically it. Now, for some reason, it's on the front page and it's some big, huge story."
Jeter, picked by People magazine as one of the world's most eligible bachelors, has been linked with models, singers, actresses and athletes of various racial and ethnic backgrounds in New York's gossip columns. His mother is white, his father is black.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Jeter said that he and his sister were taunted for being biracial while growing up in Michigan. But he said he has never heard any racial epithets from the fans at Yankee Stadium in his 11 seasons playing there.
The NYPD's hate crimes unit recently completed a four-month investigation into the Jeter letter, which police said was mailed to Yankee Stadium earlier this season. The probe's findings haven't been made public.
The mail, postmarked from cities in northeastern Ohio and Pennsylvania, criticized interracial relationships and directed the men to end such relationships "or they're going to be castrated, shot or set on fire."
St. Ignatius and St. Edward, two Roman Catholic high schools in Cleveland with well-known sports programs, received threatening letters addressed to student athletes last fall.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
Edited to add:
<< <i>popularity and pinstripes trump production >>
I can't say anything bad about Puljuos, the guy is phenomenal but, I really don't think just wearing pinstripes can ever out weigh production and players don't become popular without producing, especially in New York where you either produce or you are gone.
It's not always the bottom line numbers, playing on a very successful team that has won several division and league championships along with multiple world series wins (while you are the starting shortstop on that team) goes a very long way.
Also, it's difficult to compare a shortstop with a first baseman and I don't think that race comes into play with today's youth as much as it may have in decades past