The NBA released its newest data regarding merchandise sales, and the Nuggets cracked the list with the tenth-highest sales of any franchise. The usual suspects topped the list with the Lakers, Knicks, and Warriors leading the way. The 76ers and Celtics were fifth and sixth in the rankings as well, which rounded out the major market teams.
The Spurs broke up the big markets, coming in fourth, which makes sense due to their international megastar Victor Wembanyama and the breakout success of their young guards. The T-Wolves came in seventh, thanks to their young American superstar, Anthony Edwards.
The defending champs with the reigning MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, were eighth, the Mavericks with first overall pick, Cooper Flagg. And that leads us to the Nuggets, who have the 10th most sales of any team in the league.
On the one hand, that seems pretty solid as the Nuggets are not a big-market team or a glamour franchise. They don’t have one of the more storied histories or a universal bandwagon fan base like some other teams. So, finishing in the top 10 is good
But on the other hand, the Nuggets have one of the best records and teams in the league; they are true title contenders with a banner already raised recently. They have the best player in the world, who’s a European superstar in Nikola Jokic, plus one of the league’s biggest Canadian stars in Jamal Murray.
Nuggets' sustained success actually working against them
So 10th is good, but it feels like the Nuggets could rank even higher. What’s working against them as much as anything in terms of merch sales is ironically one of the things that’s making them so successful: continuity.
Jokic and Murray have been in Denver for ages. Aaron Gordon is old news as well. They added a lot of good players in the offseason, but I don’t think fans are racing to purchase Cam Johnson or Tim Hardaway Jr. Nuggets jerseys.
Sure, they create new “City Edition” jerseys and items each year, but they haven’t had some hot new ticket come in the door in recent years to truly move the needle. They’ve somewhat stagnated as a very good and popular team, but not one that is driving sales in a massive way like some of these trendy young teams, these major-market teams, or teams that have recently acquired a superstar.
Ultimately, this has little impact on team success, and the revenue is shared anyway. Still, it’s always nice to see fans appreciating the team, and the fact that the Nuggets are in the top 10 despite the market and lack of new star talent shows how passionate Denver fans truly are.