The NBA is the most elite sporting experience to witness. However, it is seemingly nothing without its viewers and fans. It’s the atmosphere that fans create that can change the outcomes of games. It could also single-handedly change the amount of money the NBA generates. If no one watches the games, no one gets paid.
NBA generates its revenue through ticket sales, broadcasting rights, endorsements, and selling merchandise. That’s also how fans show their support, by dawning the jerseys of their favorite players and teams. All those sales are accounted for and here is what the most jersey sales per state look like.
Top-Selling NBA player jerseys in each state
Just like the All-Star game, jersey sales are dependent on how popular a player is. So this map is not just an indication of the money the NBA makes but also how much a player is liked in each state. It’s safe to assume that if the majority of the state buys merchandise with the name of a player on it, they like that player.
Top Selling NBA player jerseys in each state
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Okay, so there is one clear stand out in this map dominated by yellow. At the start of the season, LeBron James changed his jersey number to 6. But that was enough for it to still be the highest-selling jersey in 31 out of the 50 states. From the east to the west coast, his fan base is everywhere. Also in states that have teams where LeBron is hated the jersey sales are still high.
Michael Jordan has not changed his jersey since he left the Bulls in 1998, but his image is too iconic to not have a piece of it. In South Dakota, Illinois and Delaware he still sells the highest number of jerseys for the NBA.
In the case of Kobe, he was always extremely loved, alive or dead. We see current NBA stars and celebrities rock his jersey ever so often. So it should be no surprise that in North Dakota and Alaska his jersey still sells a ton.
Surprising jersey sales in NBA
Jerseys like those of Giannis, Lillard, Mitchell, Jokic, and Trae Young are the highest in the states their teams are a part of. Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, and Grant Hill are legends of the Suns, Sixers, and Pistons respectively. This would give reasoning as to why their jerseys are the most brought in the states of those teams.
Scottie Pippen is the best player to come out of Arkansas and the most loved one as well considering they still go all out to buy his throwback jerseys.
However, the ones that stand out are Yao Ming in Montana, Mike Bibby in Alabama, Steve Smith in Idaho, and Carter in Maine and Virginia. They have no ties to those states and are just random occurrences, to say the least. That just shows you how far and wide the reach of the NBA is and how it will go on.