For the entire season, MLS fans that used to buy their teams' gear from each team's website have been forced to look for it on the official mls website MLSgear.com. I kept thinking that it would be updated at some point with more product options, but alas, it always looks the same with the same tired products. I swear half this stuff looks like it is left over from '96! Someone throw me a friggin' bone here! What's going on? Starstuck? PLEASE!
The MLS store was suppoed to have been updated for this season. It wasn't. I t was supposed to have been taken over by the MLB store. It wasn't. Dunno what the delay is. Hurry up! I'd imagine the new store will be rolled out by April 2005. HA!!!!
Agree. The league is promoting MLS gear for the holidays but they still have the same crap they've had all season. Perhaps when adidas takes over the leagues uniforms as a whole, the merchandise will improve across the board.... i hope. TS.
What is censor bypassing? And that's weird that MLB would control the MLS store. But it makes sense cause they operate mlsnet.com and all.
A quality made year in review or highlight video wouldn't hurt either. They need to sell some copies of some of the greatest MLS games too. I'd buy those up in a minute. This years DC vs New England playoff classic would be a best seller. MLS Cup 96 also. They wouldn't have to do any production on them, just copy the broadcast of the game, thats it.
They don't even have every team's jersey or scarf! I emailed them about this earlier and I never got a reply.
We can only hope. MLSgear.com merchandise is a disgrace. Of all the things that have improved over the last few years, and there are many, the merchandise for this league is horrible. Absolutely horrible. Here it is one month before Xmas and I want to spend money to buy family and friends stuff - and the website stuff is total crap. So I will spend $0.00 this Xmas on MLS gear and instead I can go to just about any team in the world's site and get youth replicas with names and numbers. Team jackets - cool t-shirts, mugs, coasters, key rings, ACTUAL TEAM PHOTOS. Almost anything you like. But nothing from MLS. After 9 years in operation, this is the best they can do? Awful. Whoever is in charge of MLS merchadising should be fired. My guess is that there is no one in charge. It can be the only explanation. You know, someone at MLSHQ will say, "We only sold $7.00 worth of merhcandise last month. That proves there is no demand." And so nothing happens because the belief is that there is no demand. Ignoring the fact that the website and the merchandise are TOTAL CRAP. Aside from the actual team jerseys, 99% of everything on that site is a waste of money. Maybe Year 10 and adidas offers hope.
Ever heard of a little thing called the internet? Word is, you can shop on stores via this 'internet'
Good point Northside. Why can't they do whats done around the world? That is sell a poster of the Team Photo that is taken before the game. You know the one I mean, the photo that is taken out on the field just before the game begins. That would be killer to have. Down in South America they sell the Team Photo posters on the street, many times with a little calendar stapled to the bottom.
See this is funny to me, I have been to a few different MLS venues just in this past year and just in this past year CCS has better selection/items than many other teams in the league when it comes to merchandise at the stadium. Online selection is a bit different, but all that blame goes to the heads at MLS who told teams not to market their own merchandise online because they would be doing it on MLSgear.com and well...we see how well that's turned out. The league left the individual teams merchandise marketing in a crappy position, which is nothing new.
The site that can not be named here has added the 2004 MLS Cup scarf, and ReAL and CHivas USA scarves. nothing on FC Dallas yet
I know this has been discussed here ad nauseum, but I guess it hasn't sunken in yet. Revs fans have not been able to purchase a replica jersey since (I think) the 2001 Atletica model. Even that one was a difficult find, and many months late, IIRC. While I hate to continue some sort of demented pity competition (which NE sports fans delight in), I gotta say that the Revs have everyone else beat in a landslide when it comes to poor merchandise availability.
Burn stuff. There has never been a lot of it. But there have always been things available for purchase at games that were not available on-line. It boggles my mind that they wouldn't put the stuff available for purchase on-line. The same is true for the limited Revs merchandise. Then there are things you could buy thru the old Burn website NOT available thru mlsgear and vice versa. The incompetence in this area is staggering. I could put photos of my old soccer jerseys up for sale on a website by the end of the day - but organizations scrambling for exposure and money just toss this stuff in a closet between games. Ignoring, for the moment, the fact that 99% of its crap. Though I will say the quality and designs of the merchandise for sale at Burn games in 2004 improved conisderably. Too bad they never put any of it on-line.
Check out the Rapids page....the dolts at MLS Gear have Columbus Crew gear on the Rapids page for sale! Maybe they got mixed up between COL and CLB. Also, you couldn't buy a Colorado jersey on the site until after the '04 season was over, and now the jerseys are out of style for '05. Anyways, the Rapids' online store is much better, even if it doesn't have many items: http://www.pepsicenter.com/rapids/merchandise/merchhome.asp
I think most teams outsource the sales of gear to a company who then can't be bothered to actually sell the stuff much of the time. For example last year the Quakes played a scrimmage against Santa Clara, and though they were passing out some freebies they weren't selling clothing - though Santa Clara was. When I asked, they explained that the clothing vendor didn't think it was worth their while and they don't have authorization to sell directly.
I don't live in a city with a MLS franchise and I can't find merchandise ANYWHERE! I can go to sports authority and get a Real Madrid or Manchester United jersey (I wouldn't but I'm saying they're available) but I can't find ANY DC United stuff! then I go on their website and they're offering DC United scarves and Beanies to anyone who buys season Tix, but I click on their online store and the scarf isn't even on sale! Well I can't use season tix in Phoenix and all I want is a stupid SCARF!!!!!!