Kobe Bryant bid adieu to NBA yesterday, the 37-year-old played 20 years for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kobe Bryant helped the Staples Center and the Los Angeles Lakers break industry merchandise records as $1.2 million worth of ‘Black Mamba’ merchandise was sold by the Staples Centre on 14th April, 2016. It is now a record merchandise sale for any arena on any given day in the world.
The Black Mamba memorabilia dubbed the ’24 Collection’, was a partnership between AEG, Kobe Inc, MainGate and the Lakers. Including online sales, AEG, Kobe Inc, the Lakers and MainGate sold more than $2 million in merchandise.
According to ESPN, the average fan inside the arena spent $61 on merchandises, while the standard bill was $230 overall. Eight hats made out of snake and lamb skin that cost $38,024 and eight other hats made from cashmere with five diamonds on it that cost $24,008 were being sold, out of which only three remained unsold. 60 percent of other hats were sold out, cost was $72.48 each. All pins, coins and jerseys were also sold out. All snakeskin-texture jerseys were retailed for $424 each while 248 limited-edition version of the jersey were sold for $824 each. One ticket holder reportedly purchased 20 of the $824 jerseys. 21 out of 24 leather jackets with Swarovski crystals attached retailed for $5,824 were sold.
According to ESPN, Merchandise sales broke records despite giveaways. Everyone at Staples Center with a game ticket received a Kobe ticket holder with a lanyard, a memorial book which is a tribute to Kobe Bryant and an exclusive Nike T-shirt. While, courtside ticket holders received six different and varied shirts along with a hat, and 20 ticket holders were gifted limited-edition Kobe Bryant shoes with matchday’s date on it. Kobe Bryant’s post-game interview ended with the words “Mamba Out.” Soon after, “Mamba Out” T-shirts in three colors, were being on sale on his official website for $25 each.
The LA Lakers also paid homage to Kobe by gifting a 24/24 jacket, and presented his wife Vanessa with a 8/24 jacket.
