1970 NFL Properties Catalog extolling the Team Shop concept.

Electric Football got a lot of promotional help in the 60’s and 70’s from the NFL Team Shop concept. The Team Shop almost seems quaint now in the era where giant team mega-stores stick out of the side of each NFL stadium. But there was a time when stadium sales consisted of small portable stands that popped up in concourses and walkways on game day. They needed to be portable because the teams were usually sharing the stadium with a baseball team or college football team. And there were only 7 games a season. So there was no need for dedicated structures to sell a few pennants and bobble-heads.

But that began to change when the NFL started its first true merchandising program in 1960. The man heading the program had created the Roy Rogers Corral, which were dedicated areas in major department stores that sold only Roy Rogers merchandise. He thought the NFL would benefit from a similar strategy. The NFL Team Shop was born.

1970 PRO! for the NFL Team Shop. Can you find the Electric Football game in the image?

One of the earliest NFL Team Shops was for the Giants in Saks Fifth Avenue in NYC. This appeared in 1963, and by 1967 when Tudor took over the NFL Electric Football licensing, every NFL city had a Team Shop in at least one major local department store. And what was one of the top selling items in these Team Shops in 1967? Why, Tudor NFL Electric Football, of course.

Tudor NFL Electric Football quickly became NFL Properties top earning item, and it can be argued that the popularity of Electric Football helped further the cause of the Team Shop. When people were looking for an NFL Electric Football game, they knew exactly where to find one. And while they were in the Team Shop getting a game…oh yeah, we’ll take a team ski hat, maybe some coasters, and a t-shirt too. That’s the kind of tie-in sales the NFL was looking for.

So next time you walk into your team mega-store – or local Dick’s or Sports Authority – remember that the NFL merchandising program had very meager beginnings. And as you fight the urge to be overwhelmed by NFL team jerseys and jackets – not mention their prices – remember that Electric Football played a big role in the NFL bounty you see before you in 2014.

There’s much more about the selling of the NFL and Electric Football in The Unforgettable Buzz. It’s the NFL’s “toy story.”

Earl & Roddy

An item that could be found in an NFL Team Shop – Tudor’s NFL No. 510 Colts-Packers