# Printing OSU Championship Shirts



## rwshirts (Dec 5, 2007)

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I couldn't find any postings.
1) Does anybody here print for the Football (or any sports championship) Championship winners? (ex.... Ohio State on Monday)
2) I notice that the shirts are readily available the night of the game, and they were in stores at 6 in the morning.
3) I assume that Championship apparel is printed for either team in advance. Who foots the bill for the advance printing, and who absorbs the charge for the losing teams shirts, which are no good?
4) Not many of us will ever get a printing job this prestigious. Just would like to know what the process is for those companies that do print this apparel?
5) Are the losing shirts and apparel destroyed or sent out of the country?

I do know a local competitor that has printed (ahead of time) for National Baseball Championships. He had semi's full of apparel waiting to print, and he would print a certain amount of apparel for those teams, assuming they might win. We never discussed what happens when the team he printed for loses.

Just a natural curiosity as a small screenprinter.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

I've heard they ship the shirts to another country 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using T-Shirt Forums


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## lvprinting (Sep 23, 2014)

selanac said:


> I've heard they ship the shirts to another country
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using T-Shirt Forums


They are donated to organizations who typically give them to needy folks. The printer can write off the loss instead of just throwing the shirts away.

Sent from my SM-G900T using T-Shirt Forums


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## Blue92 (Oct 8, 2010)

I'm in Columbus and my understanding was the designs were ready and companies had staff on hand and began printing as soon as the outcome was known with product being packed and delivered that night.

It may be some did print ahead of time but most likely smaller volumes.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

rwshirts said:


> 1) Does anybody here print for the Football (or any sports championship) Championship winners? (ex.... Ohio State on Monday)


It requires a license to print Championship gear for pro and college sports teams. Licensing varies for the different, leagues, schools, sports, events, etc.

For the College Football Playoff, the licensing is available through the CLC (Collegiate Licensing Company) and was held exclusive to their top 25 vendors.



rwshirts said:


> 2) I notice that the shirts are readily available the night of the game


This is known as the "Locker Room" shirt. A few dozen (or maybe a few hundred) are pre-printed for both teams so they can wear them right after they win. Nike owned the rights to the Locker Room tee. I don't know this for sure, but I imagine they eat the cost of those shirts. The exposure is well worth it.



rwshirts said:


> and they were in stores at 6 in the morning.


Stores that place orders for Championship gear are given the opportunity to sign a "pre-print agreement." They probably had the shirts in-hand the day of the game (or perhaps earlier), but can only release them to the public after the game (or the following morning, depending on the terms of the agreement). And, of course, they can only release the shirts of the team that wins.



rwshirts said:


> 3) I assume that Championship apparel is printed for either team in advance. Who foots the bill for the advance printing, and who absorbs the charge for the losing teams shirts, which are no good?


Generally, stores that sign a pre-print agreement are obligated to pay a percentage of their invoice regardless of which teams wins.

So let's say...
Jim's Sporting Goods in Ohio places an order with Nike for $10,000 worth of Buckeyes Championship gear; and Chip's Sporting Goods in Oregon places an order with Nike for $10,000 worth of Ducks Championship gear. Each sign a pre-print agreement so they get their goods in-hand the day of the game and each are obligated to pay 60% upfront (the 60% is just an example, I don't know what Nike would really negotiate). And let's assume Nike's production cost are 40% of the orders they invoice.

The results...
Nike spends $8,000 in production costs. They get paid $12,000 in pre-print invoices. So they are guaranteed a $4,000 profit before the game is ever played. After the Buckeyes win, Nike collects the $4,000 balance on the Jim's Sporting Goods order. The balance of the Chip's Sporting Goods is voided because they lost, but the printed goods need to be returned to Nike and end up getting donated. So they end up with $16,000 in revenue, minus their $8,000 production cost and they have $8,000 in profit plus a tax write-off.

Jim's Sporting Goods spends $6,000 on the goods before the game so they have them in-hand early. They pay the $4,000 balance after the Buckeyes win. And then sell them out in 3 hours at $30 a shirt. I'm not going to take the time to break it all down, but the store probably triples their investment, not to mention the other profit they make off the tons of people lined up outside their store the day after the game.

Chip's Sporting Goods is not so lucky. They paid the $6,000 for the pre-printed goods. They don't pay the balance because the Ducks lost. And they return the goods to Nike. But they probably made plenty of money on last week's Rose Bowl Championship gear, so it's not so bad. Cost of doing this type of business.



rwshirts said:


> 4) Not many of us will ever get a printing job this prestigious. Just would like to know what the process is for those companies that do print this apparel?


The College Football Playoff was prestigious because it's new. But I'm sure things will change over time.

You can look into getting a license for smaller Bowl Games, if that's your thing. But if you just want to do the printing for Championship events, contact the pro sports leagues about becoming a licensed/approved printer. If/when the Cavs are in The Finals, there may be licensed vendors looking to do on-site printing for major events (known as Hot Market).

For orders that are not part of a pre-print agreement, it is cost effective for licensed vendors to use local printers. It cuts down on shipping costs and speeds up the process in getting goods on the shelves, which is a huge priority for Hot Market.

As mentioned above, once the game is over the orders start printing immediately. Goods are delivered at-once and it's not uncommon for store owners to pick up orders direct from the Hot Market location (often a local print shop) in the middle of the night.



rwshirts said:


> 5) Are the losing shirts and apparel destroyed or sent out of the country?


I've heard that some manufacturers do destroy the shirts. But most have started to do the right thing and donate them to third world countries. I'm sure some "losing" shirts slip through the cracks though. I myself might even have a New York Yankees 2003 World Series Champions shirt lying around...


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

there is a few made for the players and family and the rest are transfers. if no the other team looses than the transfers are trashed and never put on a shirt.

When the cowboys won the east division there shirts want available to ship till the 15th.


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Tim's info is spot on. A few years back there was a show on this. Some of the shops will have 2 autos, 1 with each team waiting. The min the out come is final 1 press is started while the other is broken down and reset. 

There is also pre printed shirt to be sold at the event, and some stores. They show a lot of donated loosing team appearal being worn by poverty stricken countries.


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## rwshirts (Dec 5, 2007)

djque said:


> there is a few made for the players and family and the rest are transfers. if no the other team looses than the transfers are trashed and never put on a shirt.
> 
> When the cowboys won the east division there shirts want available to ship till the 15th.


 
This seems to be the smartest way to go. No apparel is wasted, just the transfers.


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## TH Apparel (Jul 12, 2013)

We have printed for NHL and NFL. One year we had contract for both teams in the world series...we print a couple samples prior to the game. If one team is up in the series, we will usually start printing a little early. Once the game is over, we start cranking out shirts. Box trucks come every couple hours starting at about midnight to pick up X amount each time. Large orders are usually split between a handful of other shops...our shop usually does between 18-25K overnight.


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## mfatty500 (Jan 18, 2010)

Just curious Tim, are you an attorney as well? You seem to be up on the copyright laws and such. I have noticed this since I joined.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

mfatty500 said:


> Just curious Tim, are you an attorney as well? You seem to be up on the copyright laws and such. I have noticed this since I joined.


Nope, I'm not an attorney. Just a t-shirt junkie. But I've been in the sports and college licensed biz for a number of years now. And done plenty of reading on copyrights, trademarks, etc.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Popular meme after last year's Super Bowl. 

More than a few hundred are pre-printed because the shirts are also immediately available in each team's home city.

I recall some years back reading that the NFL purchased an insurance policy from Lloyds of London against the Super Bowl underdog winning. If the underdog did win, Lloyds would have paid them the cost of printing the championship tees for the favorite. This enabled the NFL to get a jump and print a lot more tees for the favorite than for the underdog.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

It depends on the school. Some are really inexpensive, some are not to produce goods for. We have a license for a major university. They approve everything we do. Once we have the approval we can produce as much as we can sell.


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