The sting from UNC’s loss to Kansas last night extends beyond fan heartbreak, and local businesses are feeling the pain financially.
John Gorsuch, director of Student Stores, said in April 2009, the last time the men’s basketball team won the National Championship, Student Stores made $770,000 more than typical April sales, which normally run around $300,000.
However, Gorsuch doesn’t see this as a loss.
“Whichever university wins gains a rare opportunity,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt us. We just won’t have that unique championship opportunity this year.”
He stressed that the UNC brand is still strong.
“When the team wins, we do sell more, but the Carolina brand is still in high demand,” Gorsuch said. “UNC is one of the most popular college brands in the United States.”
But other retailers are not as optimistic.
Holly Dedmond, the store manager at Chapel Hill Sportswear, said the loss really hurt the store financially.
“We’re very slow today,” she said. “We would have sold thousands of t-shirts if we had made it to the Final Four and even more if we had won the championship.”
“You can’t compare these numbers to 2005 and 2009 because we’re not selling anything,” she said.
Genny Wrenn, manager of The Shrunken Head Boutique, said business was slow but she didn’t lose any money because of the loss.
“We were prepared and had placed our orders for Final Four t-shirts,” she said. “Thankfully they don’t print shirts until after the buzzer sounds so we didn’t lose money.”
Derek Lochbaum, director of trademarks and licensing at UNC, said the loss is felt in trademark licensing revenue as well.
Lochbaum reported that UNC National Championship and NCAA Tournament branded merchandise in 2005 and 2009 generated more than $825,000 and $750,000 in trademark licensing royalties, respectively.
This amount seems even larger when compared to the approximate $6,100 earned in trademark licensing in 2011 when UNC lost in the Elite Eight.
So while you’re wallowing in your grief about the team’s loss in the Elite Eight this year, maybe try some retail therapy.
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