Most popular minor league jerseys? No telling

I’m a stats nut.

Not the do-it-yourself, build your own database kind of stats. Those kind of numbers are part of my job, and I’m just beginning to master those skills for academic research.

I’m talking about juicy, easy-to-understand stats. The kind of numbers that tell you something without using a regression equation or finding a perfect P. (There goes the rest of my readers onto a new site …) Anyway, I’m talking about numbers that give a straightforward explanation for something, particularly when it comes to economics and markets.

Hence my disappointment when I learned that the American Hockey League and ECHL do not track jersey sales. Both leagues (along with the CHL) provide an amazing array of numbers (here, here, and here) that say a lot about each league and its franchises.

Shooting Show for the Show may not have a future in modeling, but he is sporting a sharp South Carolina (ECHL) Stingrays jersey.

But jersey sales? Forget about it. While NHL jersey sale statistics are often available (here and here), the minor leagues don’t track this. The AHL and ECHL both confirmed as much in response to my tweeted questions last month, with the ECHL’s rep noting, “Teams sell their own merchandise independently of the League.”

Too bad. Because as much as we can learn about individual markets from case studies of particular situations and attendance figures, we don’t know the most popular jersey sellers.

We might see relationships between well-established versus new franchises, between teams that have classic looks and teams that experiment, between regions, between leagues. Further, it’s killing me to not know about jersey sales for players. Would, say, a respected and beloved pro like Dennis Bonvie outsell a hotshot prospect such as young Senators goalie Robin Lehner?

Much has been written about bad and good minor league jerseys. Icethetics is probably the best in the business when it comes to analyzing the look and sell-ability of jerseys, and the Third String Goalie is great at showcasing jerseys of all ilk.

Again, I’ll give credit to these leagues for reporting as much as they do. However, we’re missing a lot when it comes to analyzing the branding efforts and successes of the most endearing type of sports apparel, the hockey jersey.