Sports fans love gear, and Dallas’ first NBA Finals berth since 2011 presents the perfect excuse for supporters to refresh their closets.
During the playoffs, the Mavericks saw a 164% increase in online merchandise sales, according to a team representative. From the Western Conference Semifinals to the Finals, the team saw a 125% increase.
Some sports apparel stores in Dallas, including a few Academy Sports + Outdoors and Dick’s Sporting Goods locations, opened doors after hours late Thursday night, selling the official locker room NBA championship merchandise after the last buzzer confirmed a victory for the Mavs, solidifying their place in the Finals. The stores kept doors open until around midnight to meet fan demand for Mavericks playoff apparel, and some locations opened two hours early Friday morning.
Finals merchandise included shirts and hats ranging from $35 to $50. Stores across the Dallas-Fort Worth area were stocked with blue, black and white clothing splashed with “Finals” and “playoffs.” This is the second such phenomenon within a year for the region’s fans and retailers after the Texas Rangers advanced to and won the World Series in November.
At the Academy Sports + Outdoors on Northwest Highway, cashier Alex Pedraza described the celebratory atmosphere Thursday night. Fans began lining up outside the store before the game ended, and when the clock hit zero, air horns went off, music played and everyone cheered.
“It felt like a feeling of everybody [from] Dallas coming together and just celebrating together,” Pedraza said. “It was a different feeling I never felt before … how we all just celebrated together and we all accomplished this together.”
Pedraza worked from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. then returned around 9 p.m. to sell to fans. The store remained open until around midnight and would have been open until 3 a.m. if it weren’t for the rain and flash flood warning. Pedraza said that, during the game, a speaker announced each play outside the store. He could hear cheers from inside.
“People have so much energy. They came in last night, they were ready to party, they were ready to celebrate,” Pedraza said. “It’s good to see how people, this community, just do that … and finally say Dallas is on top.”
Pedraza bought three shirts for himself and his family on Thursday and said he plans to buy more if the Mavericks take the championship. He was seven years old when Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks won the team’s first and only title in 2011 and remembers the celebratory parade.
Academy managers and employees didn’t see the merchandise until the game ended.
“Not until that final buzzer is when we finally get to see the product,” David Nail, a manager at Academy’s Northwest Highway location, said. “So we’re witnessing it the same as the customers are. As soon as that final buzzer hits, we open up the boxes. … It’s a nice Christmas for everybody.”
Nail remembers when the store reopened to sell Rangers merchandise not too long ago and said they might also reopen after hours if the Stars advance. If the Mavs clinch the championship title, Academy will immediately reopen 12 stores across Dallas-Fort Worth, a representative told The Dallas Morning News. Stores will continue to receive new products throughout the week.
The shopping rush continued into Friday at The Hangar, the primary Mavs and Stars fan shop at the American Airlines Center. Some fans took the day off work to beat the crowds and grab the gear they wanted before it sold out.
Superfan Jacob Meza, 25, who said he plans to get a Mavs tattoo on his ankle if Dallas wins the title, struggled to think of any gear he lacks aside from branded shoes but splashed the cash on a jumbo-sized chain and blanket. Jessie Kiannejad, 33, has lived in Dallas his whole life and became a season-ticket holder this season. The winning encouraged him to “invest more in the team,” which means a crisp NBA Finals T-shirt and a Doncic kit for his little cousin.
The Luka Doncic City Edition Swingman jersey has consistently been the team’s top-selling product, followed by the Kyrie Irving Association Swingman jersey in close second, the team representative said.
Jason Otts, 42, made the trip from Wylie with his brother to check out the arena’s Dirk Nowitzki statue and scope out the merch selection, but the store didn’t have the NBA Finals hats he and his son wanted. That didn’t stop him from buying three tickets to Game 3 from a friend while he was inside, keeping his streak of attending Dallas championship games alive after supporting the Rangers in Arizona for last year’s World Series.
Some more recent Dallas-area transplants have simply become enamored with the Mavs’ success and want to support it.
Temakia Hawthorne, 48, who lives in Mesquite, bought NBA Finals T-shirts and other merchandise online after Dallas’ Game 5 win but came downtown Friday to buy a Doncic jersey for her young granddaughter. Ahmy Arca moved from Florida to Texas just three years ago but drove an hour from his home in Aledo on his day off to the American Airlines Center to buy two Mavs shirts and a Stars shirt.
The postseason runs have been quite the “initiation to all the winning,” Arca said.
