While &#;America&#;s Pastime&#; now ranks well behind football in terms of nationwide popularity, Major League Baseball&#;s opening day is perhaps the most celebrated &#;kickoff&#; of any sports league.
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Seen as the unofficial start of spring, MLB&#;s Opening Day has a long and rich history across the United States. Opening Day is so important to baseball fans that Hall of Fame Shortstop Ozzie Smith has been trying to make Opening Day an official national holiday.
Always eager to dive into data, we wanted to investigate the impact of Opening Day even further. Specifically, we wanted to see how Opening Day impacted consumer behavior, if Opening Day drives fans to buy more gear than the World Series, and how Opening Day this year compares to last year&#;s COVID-delayed event.
To find out, our data science team analyzed and market demand for MLB team merchandise to learn when consumer demand is highest and which teams have the broadest support when it comes to buying gear for their team.
We started by examining demand on Amazon for all MLB teams combined, starting in January of all the way through February .
The short answer is: yes, the start of a new season does, indeed, increase market demand for MLB team gear. The week of Opening Day (March 28 through April 3) saw demand rise by 50% compared to the week before.
Here&#;s a weekly view of consumer demand for MLB team gear:
As you can see, the beginning of a new MLB season brings a clear surge in consumer demand for team gear. But, interestingly, the biggest week of the past two years fell in mid-June, thanks to Amazon Prime Day.
Also evident in this chart is the impact of COVID-19 had on consumer demand last year. Demand quickly plummeted as lockdowns began and the season was postponed.
Consumer demand then jumped when the season resumed the week of its new Opening Day, July 24th, , but it&#;s clear that fans were much more engaged last year in the face of a more &#;normal&#; season.
Opening Day also brought an increase in demand for MLB&#;s most popular team gear item: baseball hats.
Demand for MLB team hats experienced a similar drop in demand after the season was postponed, but on the week of Opening Day , demand for MLB team hats was up 45% compared to the week just one month prior.
Once again, demand was up far more during the season than the pandemic-disrupted season, and as with team gear it was Amazon Prime Day that was responsible for the largest week of the entire year.
Next we wanted to see which MLB teams experienced the most demand on Opening Day. To do this, we stuck with examining demand for hats for the 20 most popular teams in our analysis for the week of Opening Day.
It should come as no surprise that the New York Yankees, the biggest team in baseball, experienced by far the highest demand out of any team in our analysis.
Perennially popular teams, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and White Sox rounded out the top five.
So that next got us wondering, which teams got the biggest Opening Day boost this year? Or, in other words, which team's fans were the most excited about the season ahead?
To find that out, we examined average daily demand during the week of Opening Day and compared it to the average week over the past two years.
Most of the top teams in our analysis experienced a sizable boost in demand for team hats during the week of Opening Day.
The Tampa Bay Rays, after their World Series appearance, saw the biggest opening day boost last year, with a whopping 404% increase compared to the average week over the past two years.
Does the World Series affect demand? This one&#;s pretty straightforward. The answer is yes. A lot.
To illustrate, here&#;s weekly demand for hats for last year&#;s World Series runner up, the Houston Astros:
During the week of October 24th, as the Houston Astros entered the World Series, demand shot up by 246% as compared to the overall average.
As you&#;d expect, the team that ultimately won the world series, the Atlanta Braves, also experienced a tremendous surge in demand:
Unlike the Astros, which saw demand drop immediately the week after the World Series ended, the Braves saw demand surge by 344% vs the overall weekly average after winning the whole thing.
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Our analysis shows the excitement that comes with Opening Day drives an in demand for MLB team gear as fans look to express their passion and excitement, but success in the playoffs, and even a big shopping event like Amazon Prime Day can drive huge demand for team gear.
Understanding the factors that influence consumer behavior can help brands better understand how to forecast demand for their products on online marketplaces, and even inform product design and marketing strategy.
To stay up to date on consumer behavior and ecommerce news, info, and trend analyses, be sure to subscribe to Pattern Insights on the right.
And, if you&#;d like to learn more about how you can best leverage our data to help your brand win online, holiday or not, schedule a demo today.
When it comes to sports-centered fashion statements, basketball sneakers are king.
New Era baseball caps, however, can't be far behind when it comes to ubiquity. The 59/50 caps are a part of everyday life, whether it's for someone supporting their local nine or someone looking to complete an outfit.
Because people wear the hats for a variety of reasons, I had always wondered what the top 10 best-selling caps list looked like. After all, this isn't like the best-selling NFL jersey list, which is largely dominated by success on the field. A different set of factors including colors, street influence and pop culture references can shoot a hat into the best-selling category.
Our friends over at Cardboard Connection recently obtained a list of the 10 best-selling New Era caps in , which we confirmed with the company. Before we get to the top 10, a couple of thoughts about the teams that aren't listed.
&#; The most conspicuous absences are two classics: The Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers didn't make the top 10. While it's easy to figure why Cubs sales have sagged, the Tigers won a division title in and still have that Kid Rock/Eminem/Ty Cobb street cred. Maybe the addition of Prince Fielder will push them into the field next year?
&#; On-field success also didn't translate to bigger sales for the Texas Rangers or Milwaukee Brewers. I've never been a big fan of the Rangers "T," but you would have figured that two straight World Series trips and playing in such a populated market would've made a difference. As for the Crew, they keep drawing 3 million to Miller Park every year and it seems like everyone's wearing the old ball-and-glove cap each time I visit.
&#; We don't have access to the least-selling hats, but that would be an interesting list to view. I'd also be interested in knowing how team merchandisers view a spot at the bottom. Does that translate into uniform and logo changes?
OK, on to the 10 best-selling New Era hats for :
10. St. Louis Cardinals: Did the late push toward the team's 11th World Series title also get them onto the list? It certainly couldn't have hurt, but the interlocking "StL" is always a classic as "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm exhibits here.
9. San Francisco Giants: The title made this hat a must-have item in the Bay Area. Wonder if they sold any that were bigger than Bruce Bochy's 8 1/4?
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8. Philadelphia Phillies: Maybe the most underrated "classic" hat out there. Multiple years of sellouts at Citizens Bank Park had to help.
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7. Pittsburgh Pirates: The first big surprise of the list, but not when you consider that there's a heavy gang influence when it comes to cap sales. Also &#; and this is just a theory &#; but guys like Phil and Pete probably move the needle a lot for the black and gold.
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6. Chicago White Sox: From Dr. Dre to the leader of the free world, the South Side has been widely repped over the last two decades. Makes you wonder if there's anything to the claim that the hat's subliminal "sex" message accounts for its popularity.
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5. Los Angeles Dodgers: Safe to say that Magic's presence is going to send this cap a few spots higher when the list comes out for ?
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4. Cincinnati Reds: Back in , Complex Magazine claimed that the Dodgers and Reds were the two hottest caps when it came to gang member wear. They must have some staying power because here they are on the list, back to back.
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3. Boston Red Sox:Not sure if these sales numbers include pink hats, but never underestimate the buying power of a Nation.
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2. Atlanta Braves: By far the most surprising appearance on this list. Perhaps Jimmy Carter influenced a few sales, but wouldn't the Astros also be on this list if one-term presidents held so much sway. Let's chalk this up to fashion and the Asian Bloods.
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1. New York Yankees: The king stays the king. Hard to imagine anyone knocking this off.
Want more baseball fun all season long?
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