it disgusts me how much the kraft organization likes the revs. I dont care if they absolutely despise the game of soccer, but at least make an effort to sell something other than Patriots gear. Im all for the Pats, and hope they win the Super Bowl every year, but show some consideration to the loyal fans who come to support the soccer team. I remember goin to a revs game back in the early years when they sold 3 types of Revs uniforms, shorts, t-shirts, hats, and other MLS memorabelia. I went in there after the 0-0 draw against CLB and saw the following Revs gear: Revs plain t-shirt w/flag logo Revs Blue shorts 2 kinds of revs hats (blue and khaki colored) Revs headband Did miss anything?? i doubt it. and it was all in one little section of the store. Christ, i saw more people walk out of there with Pats gear. I just want kraft to realize theres more to foxboro than football. GGRRRRRRR..... cheers, fiero
You missed the Revolution wind pants and the remaining scarf that remains no more (I purchased it.) There were also Revolution white turtlenecks last I was there, but they appeared to be out of Revolution jerseys. Yes, there used to be much, much more merchandise offered, but hey... I am curious how much Revs "merch" the team moves on average over the course of a season. The Magpie
If I'm the Krafts, I don't care whether the merchandise being bought says Patriots or Revs, so long as it's being bought, and what I really don't want is to be stuck with unsold inventory. So since I have 70,000 Pats fans rolling through every other week, which am I more likely to stock? That being said, the lack of Rev's replica uniforms is appalling. Is that the Krafts' fault? Umbro's? The league?
I wonder how much the demise of Umbro in this country has an effect on the Rev's merchandise. From what I have been told, the US distributor went out about a year ago. The Canadian distributor bought the US rights. At that time, UMBRO was the dominant brand in Canada. They were overwhelmed with the US backlog and got into a financial jam. This caused the Canadian distributor to go belly up sinking Umbro not only in the US but in Canada as well. I was also told that in the Northwest ( Seattle or Portland?), there is a warehouse loaded with first quality, pristine UMBRO merchandise. It is tied up in litigation and cannot be sold until the courts decide who gets the goods. A big mess. It also makes you wonder who will be the REV sponsor next year. The 2003 adidas catalog only shows KC, DC and Columbus as MLS teams. All three are getting new away uniforms. I've been told that the amount of MLS replica kits sold in this country is miniscule. Yeah, everyone on the BigSoccer boards is a serious candidate, but, look around us. How many of your friends have Patriots or NFL gear? And, how many have MLS gear? The pro shop is only selling what the public demands. We are the vast minority.
yep, i think you missed the window mounted rev flags for your car (they're on one of those rotating vertical displays)
No More Umbro Maybe if we win THE CUP they will have a bit bigger invintory. Truth be told, I do think it's a supply problem more than a demand lack. I know a lot of people who are willing to kick in for the overprices stuff they sell but there has been little to buy. Getting the right product on the shelf will make the karfts money. The problem is gettibg a company to produce the right product. UMBRO--NO MAS!
Rev Merchandise I went through the Semi-Pro shop after the last game as well. I had international visitors coming over this week, and was trying to get them some Rev merchandise as gifts. The selection was dismal. The people working there don't even seem to care. They fielded tons of questions about Rev gear, and many of them had the attitude, "why would you want that, when we have Patriots gear?" Plenty of people left the shop complaining, and just shaking their heads. One of the leagues top strikers, and no gear! In the first years, the merchandise was crap, but it was available. Now the stuff is better, but it is nowhere to be found. I've gone back to my original Mike Burns #4 top. I would like to think it is embarrasing to the Krafts and the league that that's all we have to wear, but I don't think that they really care. And don't get me started about the playoff ticket extortion scheme for loyal season ticket holders.
I haven't been able to find the Revs jersey anywhere on-line, although numerous places advertise it. Starstruck and Eurosport both said they are out of stock and don't anticipate getting more (?), or had expected more by now and didn't receive any. If that's true, then you'd think the culprit really must be Umbro. What a shame. I've been wanting to wear one of those beauties to a match for well over a year....
Actually comments from Revolution staff have suggested Umbro's been more difficult to deal with than Atletica, and if memory serves me correctly, Umbro no-longer maintains a North American office or division. I believe this is the last year in Umbro's 2-year contract, so maybe we'll have a new supplier next season. Adidas maybe? Puma? Le Coq Sportif? The Magpie
Did you try the bigsoccer.com store...last time I checked they had them available...but that was after the world cup...so I don't know if they are anymore =)
Just checked...big soccer still has them...and they are usually pretty quick with getting them to you...I got my brother an Ireland one...that was shipped from England...(oxymoron there huh?) and it was on my front doorstep in less than 2 weeks...so you might want to check that out +)
Nest year "I believe this is the last year in Umbro's 2-year contract, so maybe we'll have a new supplier next season." If you want the kids to buy them, make it Kappa or Nike. That's what's hot with them.
Interestingly enough, during the Metros game at the end of this season I was looking around at all the fans, and I noticed that a LOT of people were wearing the original '96 Reebok Revs Jerseys. Maybe they were purchased as part of the initial fad, but either way, it was interesting to see so many "antiques" on display.
The availability of pro shop merchandise has changed dramatically from the first few seasons. Fortunately we stocked up early on with jackets, polos, denim shirts, kits, etc. Season ticket holders even got a coupon worth either 20 or 25 percent ( don't remember exactly ) off anything in the pro shop. I have to believe that the lack of product is directly related to the supplier. Some folks didn't like the look of the Reebok kits, but they sure had plenty of merchandise available.
As others have stated I think the real issue here is Umbro and their inability to provide product We all saw the goodies at Ocean State Job lot a while back when their North America supplier went belly up Again I don't think this is a broad conspiracy against Rev fans ( but then again Bob hasn't read me in to that part of the business yet ) - I think Umbro is just a mess of a company
This may or may not be a stupid question, but what all do we get from Umbro? I know the jerseys/kits come from them, but what about all of the Rev products for sale at the games? Those supplies are also seriously dwindling...
You got me Tim It seems like MLS should follow the lead of the NFL and have one uniform supplier for all the teams That way you could almost be certain all fans would be able to get something with the home team logo on it
Well, they tried that, or at least with half the teams in Nike gear and looking almost identical in their white unis. If you turned on the TV or was seated more that 30 feet from the field, you'd have a lot of trouble telling if we were playing the Mutts, Tampa, or LA. I think it is a good idea to have different suppliers for different teams because at least they have a unique look. But just as a large corporation tries to consolidate its purchasing from as few vendors as possible, you'd think that the Socialist Soccer League could have figured out some of this. Old Navy used to be a sponsor, and I was disappointed that they never made polo shirts that look at least somewhat like the team jerseys. Something in between a cheap t-shirt and a $70 replica jersey. Hell, the Canadian Football League has a lot more merchandise available. Tom
The Rev have always seemed to have problems with suppliers- the first year the replica kits did not show up until after the season started- year two with the change in kits- same thing- that was with Reebok. Atletico was so bad- that they actually had to take stock from the Pro shop to outfit the players more than once. Also when Jim showed up in Florida for the 4th of July game a few years back- he wore the black 3rd Kit- the players had never seen it- then we switched to Umbro and as others have pointed out- they for the most part went out of business in North America- So as someone who has watched his son purchase every kit ever made available as well as jackets, hats, T's, windbreakers and virtaully every item around- as he has given Rev stuff away on 5 continents and 16 different countries- in my opinion the main reason there is little or no selection in the Pro shop is mostly just bad luck with choices for their suppliers-if we have learned anything over the 7 years of being Rev fans- it is that the Krafts have always been very very helpful when it comes to helping us spend our money. Jon
I think one way to test the public's interest in Rev-related products would be for the powers-that-be to allow the fans to provide their own "home-grown" t-shirts, and other fan paraphernalia. IIRC, the Krafts do not allow the great unwashed to compete with his own tchachke palace. Kraft sports couldn't complain on one hand that it wasn't worth stocking Rev merchandise, and on the other hand say that parking lot entrepreneurs were siphoning off their profits.
Falcon, I am a little bit confused....you never seem to have a point when you make a statement, just some stupid bashing against the Revs. What did they ever do to you, besides make it to the playoffs this year? If you're so disenchanted with the Revs and their attendance, then stop paying attention to them! Seriously, you have no purpose here other than to talk trash. BORING.
I don't think his posts are limited to the Revs boards. I'm sure that he's annoyed that all of the MLS teams don't draw like the Cosmos did in their heyday.