The popular game of baseball is the second most popular sport in America after American Football. It held the coveted title the most popular sport in the US up until 1965. Its origin is highly contested. Some say that baseball was invented in England having considered its similarity to cricket, yet there are some who say its origins is linked to a local game in Romania. But then there are those who believe that this game – often referred to as America’s past time – is an evolution of an older North American game known as rounders.
One thing that cannot be disputed, however, is baseball’s popularity, with total sales figures of Major League Baseball or MLB memorabilia going past the US 3 billion dollar point for the very first time in 2005. Some analysts are predicting that sales of Major League Baseball collectibles will continue to grow at an estimated rate of 6 to 7 per cent per year.
MLB is the premier level of play in North American professional baseball. It is composed of 30 teams from two leagues, the American League and the National League. With revenue from sales of MLB team memorabilia and broadcasting rights running into the billions, it surely is a profitable sport.
But what would you get a Major League Baseball fan who has the MLB baseball playoff schedule inked on his forearm, put to memory all the MLB records by hard and has an acute information of all the MLB players salaries and stats? The answer: Just about anything and everything to do with Major League Baseball.
The most popular MLB collectables to date are MLB team jerseys or MLB uniforms. It is hard to see how anyone can go wrong with jerseys as gifts to MLB fans. Pulling on a team jersey to a game has often been the ultimate show of support for decades. Jerseys of the top teams such as the New York Yankees and those teams in the playoffs sell at such a fast rate that suppliers are experiencing an arduous time keeping up with demand.
The New York Yankees, a usual in the MLB baseball playoff schedule and winner of many pennants, have arguably the biggest share of the MLB collectibles market with an astonishing 25%. No other team comes close in terms of MLB team logo memorabilia market share.
Yankees followers will buy practically anything with the New York Yankees symbol on it. It has reached a point where New York Yankees team logo collectibles have become part of contemporary culture. You can easily spot their jerseys donned by famous Hollywood stars and their caps worn by rappers in their music videos. But it must be mentioned that the popularity of their MLB collectibles is also due to the fact that their logo is easily identified with the city of New York, which makes their t-shirts and caps very popular with tourists.