The Ottawa Citizen, January 24th 1993

 They are the worst team in professional sport -- worthy of pity, the target of cruel jokes, front-runners in the race for the ignominious Yelnats Puc.

But the Ottawa Senators can boast this: they are Canada's No. 1 NHL team in sales of souvenir merchandise to American consumers.

If you can't beat 'em on the ice, beat 'em in the malls.

Our Senators, a team for all Seeson's (stores). Finally, there is a Forum where the Senators are competitive with the Montreal Canadiens, an arena where the Sens are a force -- the marketplace.

"That Ottawa is the largest selling Canadian team here in the U.S. testifies that people are going after the new look, says Fred Scalera, the NHL's New York-based general manager of retail licensing. "I'd venture to say they're climbing the scale in the Canadian marketplace, too.

Starter, the top manufacturer of NHL merchandise, ranks the Senators third in sales in Canada behind the San Jose Sharks and Canadiens. Canadian sales make up 40 to 45 per cent of the North American market, which recorded sales of $600 million from July 1991 through June, 1992. Sports apparel is making a mockery of the recession. Scalera says retail NHL sales have tripled in the past three years.

Licensees (approved manufacturers of NHL products) pay a nine-per-cent royalty on the wholesale price, usually about half the retail figure. Thus, the 24 NHL teams share an estimated $27-million pool minus the costs of operating the NHL licencing division.

The NBA's Chicago Bulls were among the first sports franchises to make it big in the fashion industry. Last season, the Sharks exploded onto the scene. And now the expansion Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning are reaping the benefits of being newer than Sharks.

Move over Michael Jordan. Here comes Brad Marsh.

Rome wasn't built without the contractors filing for overtime and neither did the Centurion conquer America overnight. Scalera remembers the initial reaction of U.S. merchants to a Canadian expansion team.

"They said, `What am I going to do with Ottawa?' They didn't know what kind of reaction they would get. It's been a pleasant surprise. Now, retailers are demanding more.

American-based teams hold down the first 12 NHL spots on the U.S. sales list, according to Scalera. Ottawa is 13th overall. Fortunately, this ranking won't affect their draft position.

Those in the business say Ottawa has color (including the requisite black), an attractive logo (so there, all ye who mocked it for its condom-package likeness) and novelty in its favor. Can it be long before the Centurion makes an appearance on Beverly Hills 90210 ?

"This started out as a fun industry, says Alisa Klemm, editor of Team Licensing Business magazine. "It evolved into a fashion industry. There are people who buy Sharks jerseys without knowing they're a hockey team.

Given the respective records of the Sharks and Sens, this is not all bad.

The Sharks, those Men of Teal, were the first NHL team to play with the big boys of the multi-billion dollar sports souvenir industry -- the NFL, NBA and major league baseball. Sharks marketing wiz Matt Levine says his team generated 26 per cent of the NHL's $600-million sales.

Team Licensing Business magazine reports 1992 sales of $2.3 billion each for the NFL and MLB and $1.4 billion for the NBA (1991/92). According to Bob McLaughlin, managing director of NHL Canadian licensing, women account for roughly 50 per cent of all NHL purchases.

There was a lag time between Ottawa's novelty period here versus the U.S. Scalera says America didn't go Roman until the team took to the ice for real.

Locally, the sale of Senators souvenirs peaked in the hours that followed the stunning bulletin from Palm Beach, Fla. Dec. 6, 1990 that Ottawa had been awarded an NHL franchise.

"The announcement came at 1:30 p.m., says Geoff Wallace, manager of Ritchie's Fan Apparel-Sports Shop on Sparks Street. "And it was bedlam 10 minutes after that. Anything that had a Senators logo on it was gone.

Neither the NHL nor the Senators will dabble in the business of estimating team-by-team sales, but Sens sales are probably in the $20-million range continent wide. The top two Senators outlets are the team's own store on Moodie Drive and the Sports Experts at Bayshore Mall.

Trends to look for from the trend setters:

1. The Sharks are tailing off, becoming mostly kids stuff.

2. Licensees are worried that the sports apparel craze could fade as early as next year.

In the meantime, the assembly line rolls. Coming soon to a Sens outlet near you is a line of plush toys, a direct steal from the Men of Teal. Up next for the Sharks is a line of Hispanic dolls, a portion of the proceeds from which will go to San Jose's Hispanic community. Levine continues to show the once stodgy NHL that imagination pays.

"People have been strapping our shark dolls into the passenger seats of their cars to sneak into the fast lanes (minimum three passengers), says Levine.

For the lowly Senators, Shoppers Alley may be the only fast lane they see for years.