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Loco For Jets Logo - Nov. 12 2012 - Vol. 66 Issue 9 - Geoff Kirbyson

The Winnipeg Jets couldn’t beat ’em all on the ice last season, but they dusted every team in the NHL in one important category.

The Jets didn’t make the playoffs in their first season back in Manitoba, but they did bring home the title of the best-selling merchandise across the league. “The Winnipeg Jets brand has been a resounding retail success,” said Norva Riddell, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns the team. “It resulted in the highest sale of licensed product of any team in the NHL in the 2011-12 season.”

The revelation will surprise people in other markets, but not in Winnipeg, where it is difficult to go anywhere in the city without seeing the military-inspired logo. There is even a popular local drinking game that involves taking a swig every time somebody walks by wearing a Winnipeg jersey, hat, T-shirt, cuff links or even carrying a Jets waffle maker.

Sales of merchandise were so strong last season that even in rival markets Calgary and Edmonton, the Jets outsold Flames’ and Oilers’ gear for parts of the season. They were also the only team, other than the Maple Leafs, represented at Pearson International Airport retailers in Toronto.

The Jets’ new logo initially received a lukewarm reception – many diehard fans were hoping one of the marks from the original Jets would be resurrected – but a buying frenzy soon occurred. As a result, there was no Christmas in Winnipeg last holiday season, just Jetsmas.

Sales slowed with the lockout, but when a new collective bargaining agreement is finally negotiated, the Jets will look to defend their merchandise title. 

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