With LSU gearing up for the Jan. 9 BCS championship game and the holidays upon us, area retailers say demand for Tigers merchandise is translating into brisk business. Jared Loftus, CEO of Tiger District, says the online apparel retailer is having “a record sales month, even better than when we went through this four years ago with the brick-and-mortar store.” Michael Lester, owner of Nawlins Sports, says that his Mall of Louisiana store has seen a rise on LSU sales, “but not as great as it was in past championship years.” He says “anything BCS or Honey Badger” is selling strong. LSU Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Herb Vincent says hard figures on university profits will not be available until the end of first-quarter 2012. However, in his experience, “when you win a national championship, it brings up to $1 million extra. That’s what we’ve seen. Whether we win or lose affects revenue, because if we win, we’ll have a national championship campaign.” Vincent says LSUShop.net, the university’s official online athletic store, posted its highest-grossing day since the 2007 championship earlier this month after a site designer mistakenly posted Alabama gear on the home page. “The publicity led to a sales boom for us,” Vincent says. Read the full story here. —Ian McGibboney
Today’s poll question: How much have you spent on LSU merchandise—not including tickets—for the holidays and the BCS championship game?
