Club merchandise (CPBL experience)

I blogged something about club merchandise based on what I saw in Australia years ago and added that there must be some essentialities that would prompt the supporters to part their cash on these items, other than showing their affiliation to the clubs they follow.

This is why I implied that concept in my recent trip to Taipei, where I was there to catch two baseball games featuring the CPBL side I follow - the Brother Elephants (now known as CTBC Brothers **).

One of the essential items that baseball is associated with is, of course, the cap.

A Brother Elephants Cap

THE CAP
For good reason, the eyeshade of the cap is essential in blocking off the rays from the floodlights or evening sun that might affect the vision when watching the games.

The cap (pictured left) I bought at Taipei is a wire-meshed cap that is exactly the same headgear being worn by the players.

The porous design of this cap actually improves the ventilation that keeps the players cool while playing the games.

Other than caps, there are other types of merchandise on sale at the Elephants' home games at the stadiums that caught my eyes too.

A fan featuring star slugger C M Peng

THE FAN
Being a top player in the CPBL, it's no surprise to see anything relevant to Peng Cheng-min (C M Peng 彭政閔) would appear on items such as a giant fan (pictured right) which I bought that depicted this favorite slugger of mine.

This giant fan came useful during the game that was played in a humid climate and not only cool me, but also those who sat near to me.

Some Brother Elephants merchandise

WALK INTO THE LIFE OF FANS

While the above-mentioned illustrated the usefulness of some of those merchandises mentioned, what is more, important on how CPBL clubs, through these merchandises, "walked into the aspects of life" of its supporters.

The likes of T-shirts, keychains (pictured above), tumblers are some of those daily essentials made available for these supporters to express their affiliation to the teams they follow.

BLEAK OUTLOOK FOR S.LEAGUE MARKET
While club merchandises are available in S.League, but a check with some in the fraternity suggested a gloomy outlook.

Balestier Central FC badges (1996) by Playline

The lack of funds and demand are being some of the reasons holding the clubs back from venturing forward to come up with more varieties.

"With most players are on a season-long contract with clubs, it does make it impractical to have their images depicted on merchandise, as we aren't sure we going to have them back the following season or not." said one club official I spoken to citing the lack of long-term playing contracts offered to allow this area to grow.

Balestier Central Mug (1996) by Playline

The absence of a sustainable market is what opined by another club official is another stumbling block from moving out of the doldrums.

"There's a possibility of having one of my star players' image being used for merchandising purpose, but it just that the demand is not there." said this official in text conversation on this issue.

"It's not that we didn't try to tap on this area, otherwise, 'Playline' won't collapse in the first place," he added cited the case of the vendor whose vehicles back in the 1996 season would be at games selling varieties of merchandise that had gone bust since.

Some S.League jerseys are available at $50

In his parting shot, this club official went on defused another misconception by saying: "Most Singaporeans think our S.League jerseys are too expensive. I am only selling $50." (That's pretty affordable).

(** Brother Elephants was renamed CTBC Brothers in 2013 following the sale of the team to a CTBC Financial Holding linked company ) - details updated on 5th November 2021