It looks like the Talons marketing department had the right idea.
Cap, jersey, and merch sales for the Talons AAA team in Surprise are skyrocketing. Sales through April in Surprise have even eclipsed same-category sales for the major league Talons. And since Surprise is, of course, a Phoenix suburb, at certain times you see Surprise paraphernalia outnumber that for Phoenix, even inside Paul D. Lunn Memorial Stadium on game days.
It all goes to show that the BBA Governing Board was wrong to deny the Talons the ability to rebrand at the major league level. Clearly this merch is a "surprise" hit, and fans can't get enough of it. "Obviously, the BBA powers that be just knew that this stuff would take off," said Talons Marketing Director Phil Swift. "They didn't want to upend the financial structure of the league by allowing the Talons 100 mil in merch sales a year. So they made us do the Triple-A team instead, and like we thought, this stuff is flying off the shelves," Swift said.
"I don't know, something about 'needing a polished look to our league' or something... Who the hell knows. All I can say," Swift continued, "Is that we were right. This merch rocks and fans can't get enough of it."
"Maybe we'll open a Subaru dealership, because everything we touch turns to gold!"
