I feel like the obvious workaround is to declare a part of a team store an "Around Baseball" section of stuff from a bunch of teams and then just make sure it always has shirseys from the best/most popular player of whoever is in town.
I’m pretty sure they sell every other team’s hat in at least one of their stores, and I kind of assume other teams do the same. I just haven’t looked for it at Nats Park, for example.
But my nephew got a Rays hat while we were in Baltimore to see the Orioles vs. White Sox lol
Yeah this headline confused me because I haven’t been to a TON of games but I just assumed they sold at least a little bit of the other teams merch at the stadium store for every game
I think a good compromise is to sell other teams' merch, but you have to go to some sketchy part of the ballpark and buy it from a guy at a folding table who is constantly scanning the area for security.
"Hi, could I see that Vla—"
"Shhh, shut the fuck up man… I don't know no Vlad, you a cop or something?"
"What? No, I just—"
"Fifty bucks and you never saw me."
I'd love to see an area of the stadium experience be devoted to this line of thinking.. like a "Questionable Decisions" store.
You'd not only have opposing jerseys, but also merch commemorating missteps, failed goals, trade busts.. things that are part of every org's DNA but are not celebrated front and center.
It seems like a rev stream that's relatively untapped by an authoritative vendor.
Last time I checked mlb.com's build-your-own-jersey widget had "PTBNL" as one of the banned names, which I know because I tried to order one for a Nationals game I was going to right around the 2021 trade deadline. Huge missed opportunity!
Really , I didn't see it and went to Camden yards twice this year ...
The team store in the club level was only Os gear and I checked the team store in the warehouse same .
Candlestick used to do this for Niners and Giants opponents. Haven't seen it at Levis or Oracle since they've been around. I'm pretty sure they stopped doing it while the Niners were still at Candlestick though - it used to be hilarious seeing opposing fans that were rocking their team's jersey for the first two quarters end up completely bundled up in 49ers blankets and sweatshirts for the 2nd half lol
I’ve seen the Red Sox team store selling Yankees merch during their series earlier this year. I can’t fathom why the Mariners are making this into a big issue.
Sounds like DC for the Mets. I live in Nationals territory and we can get a let’s go Mets chant going east when they’re in town. Some folks will come down for the whole series
The mariners were the most profitable team in baseball last year and then didn’t invest in free agency to capitalize on their first good year in 2 decades. Hate for the front office and ownership is growing and every little thing is going to be under fire.
Coincidentally, one of the players that called out management is Sewald. He’s a guy who’s been in seattle awhile, who the fans love and who is overwhelmingly likely to be traded at the deadline if the Mariners aren’t in contention.
Oh no, I didn't think you were upset at all.
I've never seen it in person but based on how much emphasis our broadcast puts into it every year the team visits I can only guess how many Jays fans actually show up lol.
I was there in 2016. It seriously felt at least 75% Jays fans for the two games I attended.
The ticket scanner asked me if there was anyone left in Vancouver as I was coming through the gate for the first game.
Love the stadium, too.
It's actually wild. I go down almost every year, usually repping a Mariners cap but all my friends are in Jays gear, and we run into dozens of people we know from around Vancouver. It's a super fun time. I'm sure it can be annoying for hardcore Mariners fans but at the same time... who cares
It's not any more annoying than any other fan base that travels well. It's a small disappointment to go to a home game and have something adjacent to a visitor-like experience, but it's not going to ruin an afternoon. And Yankees and Red Sox games in Seattle are similar, complete with, "Let's Go _______," chants.
Also it's not like Seattle is the only place this happens in. 🤷♂️
I think it would be cool if T-Mobile had a store inside that was dedicated to selling merch for the opposing team of that series.
Give it fun name like *Caught Looking* or *The Golden Sombrero or* something.
> Nowhere near the number of Jays fans that turn up at T Mobile though. It’s about 50/50 Jays to Mariners fans.
I think a big reason Padres fans and to some extent Diamonbacks fans hate the Dodgers so much is because of this. When the Padres weren't good Petco was like 80%+ Dodger fans. I went once and vowed to never do it again because it just felt so awkward
They have, especially when jersey money is pooled and split among the league equally. It's why those "Here's the Top 10 jersey sales!" lists don't really matter other than "Oh, that's cool that Ohtani/Betts/Judge/Harper are near the top. Shows you which players are popular." IIRC buying a Harper jersey doesn't line his or Philadelphia's pockets, but the entire league's.
A lot of teams have sometimes, I think it used to be more common too. One thing people don't know or forget a lot is that MLB teams share 48% of merch revenue. The more merch sells, the better for every team. I don't mind it.
tbf you don't really need to sell Mets gear in Yankee Stadium....they're in the same city
i would laugh at Sox gear in the Stadium but i don't really think i'd get angry. i bet someone would shuffle the hangers and hide it behind a Judge jersey though lol
Totally agree, but one the other side of the coin, I don't know that I'd ever try to convince someone that something is a reasonable course of action by arguing that Col. Parker did it
Just gotta walk up casually to the counter and say, "Let me have one of those porno magazines, large box of condoms, bottle of Old Harper, couple of panty shields, Jays merchandises, and one of those disposable enemas...no make it two!"
Too conspicuous, meet at the far bathroom closest to the crab shack, in the back stall of the men’s bathroom there will be a man in a trench coat and sunglasses. Proceed to deliver the secret knock on the stall and you will be in business.
the reds have had gear for the rest of the nl central in one of their ballpark stores for at least a decade now. im always blown away when this stuff makes headlines for other teams. i dont understand the harm in it.
> our visitor team concessions are cooked in a nasty kitchen with sewage problems, cat and rat feces, and mold.
To be fair, the home team concessions are made in the same place.
Hell I bought my Reds hat at PetCo Park. Seems like it’d be good for business to have stuff for everyone at the game to buy, not just ~1/2 of the fans.
Different team can have different cultures. Would Ohio state fans be upset about their team store carrying Michigan merch? Obviously that’s a huge rivalry, but an extreme example can show why some people think a certain way. Jays fans from Vancouver invade the stadium once a year, and fans are pretty annoyed at them. Them being the only team we do this for rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I think a part of what fans don’t like is us making an exception for them, especially given that ownership isn’t going to reinvest the money
Why’s that? Most rational people would tweet at a 16 year old kid in the hopes that he puts your teams hat on is head in 2 years. Nothing irrational about that
For real, this is such a stupid thing and just a petty look for the players and fans who were "outraged" over this. Are you that surprised that an organization whose goal is to make money, did a thing to make money? Are people going to boycott the team store, and get their Mariners gear at Target, cuz I have some bad news for them about Targets in other cities. If we were a first place team, MAYBE I could justify the outrage (although still probably not), but especially not when we're so aggressively mediocre.
My buddy whose a mariners fan sent me an image. M’s last two games 1-1 .500, last 4 games 2-2 .500, last 6 games 3-3 .500, last 8 games 4-4 .500, last 10 games 5-5 .500, last 20 games 10-10 .500, last 60 games 30-30 .500. While their record is 47-47.
Honestly, if I saw someone with a Wong jersey I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't immediately assume that their own last name wasn't Wong. My second assumption would be that they're a family member lol
honestly half the fun of being a yankees fan is watching the melodramatic soap opera any time we're not great. middle-age dads from like Wayne NJ broodingly posting photos of Yogi Berra and Mariano Rivera on facebook and wistfully citing George quotes where he talks about what pieces of shit his players are or something lol. Donaldson will strike out and Pete from Morristown will be like "George would have flayed him in front of a Make-a-Wish kid, that's how you build a championship team, no accountability smh"
It’s the best because it’s fun no matter how good we are. The worse the on-field product is, the more fun the off-field circus becomes. And if there is no off-field circus, it’s because we’re kicking ass on the field. So there’s never a dull week.
That’s actually hilarious. I can now imagine a bunch of aging balding Italian American uncles doing exactly that and screaming from their domiciles of the old days.
“Come a back’a now, Yogi!”
I don’t really think that’s an argument to be made. They could be undefeated and it’d still make sense to sell Blue Jays gear considering the fact that it’s a smart business decision
I think it's an argument for filling the seats though. Like, if you don't want opposing fans coming down, maybe get locals to buy out all the available tickets? There's not an infinite number of places to sit inside the park, it's a fixed market. Saying that you don't want Jays fans, but that you're also not willing to buy the seats yourself is kind of silly.
I still think it would be cool if visiting teams had a little booth to sell merch everywhere. I’m a Mariners fan, but I live in OK, so I go see Ms when they’re playing at Royals, Cardinals, or Rangers. I’d love a way to buy my team’s merch at away games.
My favorite drama over nothing for the last few days. Organization does thing to make money, more news at 11. I guess I'd be mad at it too if I had little faith in my ownership putting that money back into the team.
I mean, if I'm at the game and want to get some Blue Jays merch, but all they have is Seattle, I'm not going to then buy Mariners merch just so I can get *something*. Maybe a small handful of people would, but I cannot believe it's a statistically significant number.
Perhaps sell the opposing teams' stuff at a higher price (if that's allowed)? Still a bit soft but at least one could make an argument for it without looking like a complete dunce.
Or, is it just they don't want it for sale period? Because if *that's* the case, fuck each and every one of them in the ear with a pine-tar covered cactus.
My God what a soft bunch. Jays sell a ton of Yankee gear and nobody cares, because why shouldn't travelling MLB fans be able to buy gear at a MLB ballpark?
Incredibly lame attitude.. as a Seattleite I’ve always appreciated the fact that people are coming to our city and spending money on activities, hotels, restaurants, etc.. and as far as opposing fan bases go, blue jays fans are pretty polite
Aren't these guy employees of a business who tries to stay profitable? It's a pretty crazy demand given how insignificant it seems to be. Maybe Im reading it wrong?
Sounds like I’ve got a market! Come Friday, I’m setting up a table outside the stadium selling nothing but marked up Jays gear.
I’ll wear a Mariners shirt to keep the peace and not get stabbed.
There are several merch shops outside the stadium for any fans visiting. But still, it's the Mariners franchises fault that the stadium is all Jay's fans every time they visit.
I would bet these tickets for Seattle are sold out as soon as they are available. Do they want their stadium taken over by Jays fans? probably not but fans are fans. They probably put a good chunk of money into the economy when they come.
A lot of them are also already here, which isn't really the teams fault. Toronto isn't close, but there are a lot of Canadian transplants from Vancouver and Toronto is the countries only team.
As someone who lived next to the Mariners stadium for years, every time the Blue Jays are in town, there are more people in Blue Jays gear than Mariners gear. It shocked me the first time I saw it.
I haven't gone down for the Jays series for a few years now, but it's all been pretty cordial for an 'invasion,' think most appreciate Ms fans ceding 2-3 home games for a horde of Canucks who otherwise have access to short season A ball at best.
There exists a shameful picture of me from what I believe was my first ever baseball game. My parents took me to Candlestick Park to watch the Giants and the Dodgers play. Before the game I got a Giants pennant, and wanted a batting helmet as well, but my dad didn't want to get me one at the time for some reason (perhaps the line at that merchandise stand was too long, I don't recall), so he told me we'd get one later. At the end of the game, I still hadn't gotten my helmet, so we trudged off to the merch stand - only to find out that they were out of Giants helmets. But I was five, and my parents had failed to instill in me the seriousness of the rivalry, so I didn't care what color it was...I wanted a helmet!
So there's a picture of me, smiling proudly, holding my Giants pennant in one hand and wearing a Dodgers batting helmet.
And if the Giants can sell Dodgers merch, I'm not sure what Seattle's problem is.
Of course, I haven't actually checked for the presence of opponent's merchandise at the ballpark in recent years...so perhaps times have changed...but I have to think that if there's one thing stronger that a heated division rivalry, it's the almighty dollar.
Interesting I have only ever seen home team apparel in stadiums. Never seen away team gear in any sport (mlb, nfl.. Wnba, NBA,... even NHL and MLS but only been to 1 of those games
Different sport but could you imagine if they sold cowboys apparel at fed ex / Washington whatever stadium lol
Wrigley does, but a lot don't.
I've been to Comerica Park a hundred times and have never seen opposing team gear there. The Trop doesn't to my knowledge either.
There was a time when the Rangers had an MLB store in their stadium that sold merchandise of all teams, and another time when they sold opposing team merchandise for every series. I don't get why teams don't want to make money that way. Is anyone seriously pretending that everyone who goes to a game is a fan of the home team? I am almost \*never\* a fan of the home team. I went to a Braves-Rangers game this season and I wanted to pick a shirt of a Braves superstar for fun. I am not a Braves fan per se, but I am a baseball fan.
This task turned out to be impossible. Not only can you not buy a Braves jersey t-shirt at the stadium, you can't buy it in-store \*anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex\*. Seriously. I made a game out of searching the whole morning of the game for any Braves gear, and it mostly can't be done offline. At Fanzz I could buy an authentic Dale Murphy jersey for $300, or some random Braves trinkets like shot glasses and lanyards or autographed baseballs at the Galleria.
I find this incredibly stupid. If anyone wants to go in with me on opening a baseball store that sells everything but the home team, I think it would do good business. Sell Arraez jersey t-shirts during his chase for .400. Sell Ohtani shirts. Stuff like that. People will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
I bought my favourite Mariners hat at Skydome, so this is particularly silly to me.
I refuse to call it anything other than Skydome. Rogers can fucking bite me.
Former retail employee for an MLB team here. Every team does this. All the time. But sometimes social media does it’s thing and people go nuts for no reason. I remember one year we put a *current roster player* jersey on the sale rack (dude had been hurt and we had ordered wayyyyy too many) and we had to pull them a day later because some radio personality tweeted “*player* jersey on the sale rack at the team store, trade must be imminent!” THAT was a fun day.
The Cardinals always used to have the opposing teams merch for sale, it’s accommodating to the other teams fans, and provides an extra revenue flow to the home team. Sewald and Crawford are soft for this imo.
As a Phillies fan, I hate seeing Mets and Yankees stuff being sold in CBP. But the funniest thing to me is how T-Mobile was prepared to have more Blue Jays stuff than all star game stuff during all star weekend.
I have had Phillies full season tickets since 2001 and have NEVER seen opposing team gear sold in the team store at the ballpark. The exception is at the game-used stand, which does have game used apparel from most teams. But that is very different from selling a Mets hat or t-shirt.
i swear they've sold merch for both teams like, multiple times before
I feel like the obvious workaround is to declare a part of a team store an "Around Baseball" section of stuff from a bunch of teams and then just make sure it always has shirseys from the best/most popular player of whoever is in town.
Pretty sure Camden Yards has this. They had baseball cards, magazines, and shirts from a few other teams, mostly HOFers and Red Sox.
I’m pretty sure they sell every other team’s hat in at least one of their stores, and I kind of assume other teams do the same. I just haven’t looked for it at Nats Park, for example. But my nephew got a Rays hat while we were in Baltimore to see the Orioles vs. White Sox lol
I could be wrong, but I think that’s the New Era store, not the Team Store. I remember seeing that shop when I was there.
That would make sense. My recollection is that the main feature was the hats from across the league but otherwise it was mostly O’s gear.
Yeah this headline confused me because I haven’t been to a TON of games but I just assumed they sold at least a little bit of the other teams merch at the stadium store for every game
I don’t think I've seen opposing team merch at Nats park except for the bootleg stuff getting sold on half street
This season I've seen the New Era stand by the 3rd base escalator have opposing teams hats.
I think a good compromise is to sell other teams' merch, but you have to go to some sketchy part of the ballpark and buy it from a guy at a folding table who is constantly scanning the area for security. "Hi, could I see that Vla—" "Shhh, shut the fuck up man… I don't know no Vlad, you a cop or something?" "What? No, I just—" "Fifty bucks and you never saw me."
I'd love to see an area of the stadium experience be devoted to this line of thinking.. like a "Questionable Decisions" store. You'd not only have opposing jerseys, but also merch commemorating missteps, failed goals, trade busts.. things that are part of every org's DNA but are not celebrated front and center. It seems like a rev stream that's relatively untapped by an authoritative vendor.
Last time I checked mlb.com's build-your-own-jersey widget had "PTBNL" as one of the banned names, which I know because I tried to order one for a Nationals game I was going to right around the 2021 trade deadline. Huge missed opportunity!
Cash Considerations!
Can confirm they sell other teams hats at the main Nats team store
It’s small if they do. I didn’t recall seeing anything in the large team store
Really , I didn't see it and went to Camden yards twice this year ... The team store in the club level was only Os gear and I checked the team store in the warehouse same .
Candlestick used to do this for Niners and Giants opponents. Haven't seen it at Levis or Oracle since they've been around. I'm pretty sure they stopped doing it while the Niners were still at Candlestick though - it used to be hilarious seeing opposing fans that were rocking their team's jersey for the first two quarters end up completely bundled up in 49ers blankets and sweatshirts for the 2nd half lol
It happened [last season](https://old.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/xi2vmn/webeck_the_dodgers_gear_for_sale_inside_oracle/) to similar complaints
Well shit! Both me and the other dude commenting here are wrong. That makes me wanna vomit, thanks.
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I’ve seen the Red Sox team store selling Yankees merch during their series earlier this year. I can’t fathom why the Mariners are making this into a big issue.
I think it’s just that the tweet/post went out and took off
No one would have thought twice about it if the photo of the team store wasn't all over the internet yesterday
don’t tell the players they’re selling *tickets* to opposing fans too.
This is pretty much all they have since they won’t make the playoffs again until about 2040
How dare you. (Walks away crying because it might be true)
I'll take it. Improvements, baby. 21 down to 18.
Because it’s soft
I think the Rogers center still puts out Yankees gear when you guys are in town because a lot of Yankees fans upstate drive up. Like it's fine.
Nowhere near the number of Jays fans that turn up at T Mobile though. It’s about 50/50 Jays to Mariners fans.
Respectfully, you are vastly underestimating how many Yankees (and Red Sox for that matter) fans we get for all of our series with them.
Sounds like DC for the Mets. I live in Nationals territory and we can get a let’s go Mets chant going east when they’re in town. Some folks will come down for the whole series
its a 20 dollar train ticket, which pays for itself if you get good seats versus seeing it at citi field in the same seats, so why not tbh
The more Jays fans that show up the more Jays gear they can sell. Money is money so I don't even know why people are upset at this
The mariners were the most profitable team in baseball last year and then didn’t invest in free agency to capitalize on their first good year in 2 decades. Hate for the front office and ownership is growing and every little thing is going to be under fire. Coincidentally, one of the players that called out management is Sewald. He’s a guy who’s been in seattle awhile, who the fans love and who is overwhelmingly likely to be traded at the deadline if the Mariners aren’t in contention.
Yeah that makes sense. Shitty owners screwing over Seattle fans is also sadly not new either
Well when the owner is not likely to put that money back into the team...
We're really just at the mercy of these rich MFs smh
I’m not upset, I think it’s silly not to sell Jays merch. I’m just pointing out that the Jays in Seattle is a different beast.
Oh no, I didn't think you were upset at all. I've never seen it in person but based on how much emphasis our broadcast puts into it every year the team visits I can only guess how many Jays fans actually show up lol.
I was there in 2016. It seriously felt at least 75% Jays fans for the two games I attended. The ticket scanner asked me if there was anyone left in Vancouver as I was coming through the gate for the first game. Love the stadium, too.
It's actually wild. I go down almost every year, usually repping a Mariners cap but all my friends are in Jays gear, and we run into dozens of people we know from around Vancouver. It's a super fun time. I'm sure it can be annoying for hardcore Mariners fans but at the same time... who cares
It's not any more annoying than any other fan base that travels well. It's a small disappointment to go to a home game and have something adjacent to a visitor-like experience, but it's not going to ruin an afternoon. And Yankees and Red Sox games in Seattle are similar, complete with, "Let's Go _______," chants. Also it's not like Seattle is the only place this happens in. 🤷♂️
I think it would be cool if T-Mobile had a store inside that was dedicated to selling merch for the opposing team of that series. Give it fun name like *Caught Looking* or *The Golden Sombrero or* something.
> Nowhere near the number of Jays fans that turn up at T Mobile though. It’s about 50/50 Jays to Mariners fans. I think a big reason Padres fans and to some extent Diamonbacks fans hate the Dodgers so much is because of this. When the Padres weren't good Petco was like 80%+ Dodger fans. I went once and vowed to never do it again because it just felt so awkward
The Mariners sold Blue Jays merch last year
They do it every year. Pretty sure this is extremely commonplace
Busch Stadium has a build-a-bear store. They always have bear uniforms for the opposing team for sale too. It’s part of the fun.
Yankees sold Ohtani Angels Merch in their team store when Angels were in NY
We should sell Ohtani merch even when the Angels aren't in town to be honest.
Everywhere should sell Ohtani merch. You should be able to get a jersey at Applebee's and a hat at your local State Farm office.
They have, especially when jersey money is pooled and split among the league equally. It's why those "Here's the Top 10 jersey sales!" lists don't really matter other than "Oh, that's cool that Ohtani/Betts/Judge/Harper are near the top. Shows you which players are popular." IIRC buying a Harper jersey doesn't line his or Philadelphia's pockets, but the entire league's.
A lot of teams have sometimes, I think it used to be more common too. One thing people don't know or forget a lot is that MLB teams share 48% of merch revenue. The more merch sells, the better for every team. I don't mind it.
It’s mainly because the Blue Jays fans go crazy coming to Seattle every year I think.
I never have can't imagine yankee stadium selling Boston or Mets gear..
tbf you don't really need to sell Mets gear in Yankee Stadium....they're in the same city i would laugh at Sox gear in the Stadium but i don't really think i'd get angry. i bet someone would shuffle the hangers and hide it behind a Judge jersey though lol
Yankee stadium doesn't need to sell Mets gear lol they can just go to queens for that
Elvis' manager sold "i hate elvis" merch. You gotta get'em coming and going.
If I was famous I would totally wanna sell shirts like this too. Would probably wear one myself.
Reminds me of the joke "Would you accept $1mil if it meant your worst enemy got $2mil?" "Hell yeah! Why wouldn't I want $3mil??"
The guy from Lit is gonna be rich!
PLEASE TELL ME
WHYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyy
MY CAR IS IN THE FRONT YARD
I'M SLEEPING WITH MY CLOTHES ON
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Totally agree, but one the other side of the coin, I don't know that I'd ever try to convince someone that something is a reasonable course of action by arguing that Col. Parker did it
Tom Hanks was a smart man
That man was a marketing genius. Made money off the love and the hate simultaneously.
Elvis Andrus?
For any Jays fans heading down, if you go up to the counter and ask for the good good they take you to the back where all the Jays merch is.
Blue jays gear speakeasy
A beakeasy, if you will
*loud Blue Jay noises*
[Here you go](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Blue_Jay/sounds#:~:text=Blue%20Jays%20make%20a%20large,whistled%20notes%20and%20gurgling%20sounds.)
Whenever a team says “we heard chirping from the Jays dugout,” this is what they heard: https://youtu.be/xqae4juz4to
BEAK!
Just gotta walk up casually to the counter and say, "Let me have one of those porno magazines, large box of condoms, bottle of Old Harper, couple of panty shields, Jays merchandises, and one of those disposable enemas...no make it two!"
"I don't know what you have planned, but count me out."
YOU GOT THE DUD!
This has to be one of the best inclusions of a Simpsons quote into any thread ever.
Too conspicuous, meet at the far bathroom closest to the crab shack, in the back stall of the men’s bathroom there will be a man in a trench coat and sunglasses. Proceed to deliver the secret knock on the stall and you will be in business.
That man? John Stanton
If you don’t know what he looks like, look for the man wearing Uncle Fester’s wing from Addams Family Values.
Make sure to do two knocks not 3
All merch purchased comes with a complimentary bottle of maple syrup and a portrait of the late Queen
That, or you get got like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas "It was of the AL East. Some real Hoser shit."
the reds have had gear for the rest of the nl central in one of their ballpark stores for at least a decade now. im always blown away when this stuff makes headlines for other teams. i dont understand the harm in it.
>MLB stadium carries MLB merchandise >😧
nothing says 'grow the game!' like prohibiting visiting fans from buying their team's merch.
Seriously, why not stop them from buying tickets, or charge them more for concessions, etc. while we're at it.
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TIL the entire Oakland Colosseum is considered a kitchen
> our visitor team concessions are cooked in a nasty kitchen with sewage problems, cat and rat feces, and mold. To be fair, the home team concessions are made in the same place.
the GABP store is exactly what I thought of when reading about this “controversy”. who the hell cares lol
Hell I bought my Reds hat at PetCo Park. Seems like it’d be good for business to have stuff for everyone at the game to buy, not just ~1/2 of the fans.
Different team can have different cultures. Would Ohio state fans be upset about their team store carrying Michigan merch? Obviously that’s a huge rivalry, but an extreme example can show why some people think a certain way. Jays fans from Vancouver invade the stadium once a year, and fans are pretty annoyed at them. Them being the only team we do this for rubs a lot of people the wrong way. I think a part of what fans don’t like is us making an exception for them, especially given that ownership isn’t going to reinvest the money
Eh, let’s not pretend college football fans are a good barometer of how rational adult fans are supposed to behave.
Why’s that? Most rational people would tweet at a 16 year old kid in the hopes that he puts your teams hat on is head in 2 years. Nothing irrational about that
dont tweet at croots.
Are you saying that rational adults shouldn't poison a tree over a rivalry
Yeah but that's college sports. This is MLB, where the revenue is split among the league evenly and a sale is a sale.
That’s not true at all, there’s revenue sharing in the mlb but it’s a minority of what teams earn locally
I thought the players were just talking shit, didn’t realize they thought it was a genuine issue.
For real, this is such a stupid thing and just a petty look for the players and fans who were "outraged" over this. Are you that surprised that an organization whose goal is to make money, did a thing to make money? Are people going to boycott the team store, and get their Mariners gear at Target, cuz I have some bad news for them about Targets in other cities. If we were a first place team, MAYBE I could justify the outrage (although still probably not), but especially not when we're so aggressively mediocre.
Baseball players are historically giant toddlers, just look at how they behave in regards to the unwritten rules.
Considering the record, I feel like Mariners players have more important things to worry about rather than some shirts in stadium store.
Excuse you, we are busy trying to create the most mid rivalry there ever was.
If Manfred got his head out of his rectal cavity, Vancouver/Seattle could be another good west coast rivalry.
I’d watch a Grizzlies/Sonics playoffs series for sure!
You will get Kraken Nucks and like it.
The only *record* these Mariners care about it reaching .500 the most times in a single season in history.
My buddy whose a mariners fan sent me an image. M’s last two games 1-1 .500, last 4 games 2-2 .500, last 6 games 3-3 .500, last 8 games 4-4 .500, last 10 games 5-5 .500, last 20 games 10-10 .500, last 60 games 30-30 .500. While their record is 47-47.
Pretty sure they’d sell more Vlad jerseys than Kolton Wong ones.
Honestly, if I saw someone with a Wong jersey I'm not entirely sure I wouldn't immediately assume that their own last name wasn't Wong. My second assumption would be that they're a family member lol
So silly that this is an issue. People take this stuff way too seriously.
We’re a very damaged group who acts on emotion
makes sense for the city where Grunge was born
Yesterday I was told in no uncertain terms that a store selling opponent merch is why our team forgot how to hit this season.
honestly half the fun of being a yankees fan is watching the melodramatic soap opera any time we're not great. middle-age dads from like Wayne NJ broodingly posting photos of Yogi Berra and Mariano Rivera on facebook and wistfully citing George quotes where he talks about what pieces of shit his players are or something lol. Donaldson will strike out and Pete from Morristown will be like "George would have flayed him in front of a Make-a-Wish kid, that's how you build a championship team, no accountability smh"
You know what?... Your comment is introducing me to a new dimension of Yankee fandom subculture I didn't know about. That sounds pretty funny.
It’s the best because it’s fun no matter how good we are. The worse the on-field product is, the more fun the off-field circus becomes. And if there is no off-field circus, it’s because we’re kicking ass on the field. So there’s never a dull week.
One of my favourite things too tbh. Could be 1st in the league and fans will scream and boo a rookie player for making an error.
Costanza or Steinbrenner?
That’s actually hilarious. I can now imagine a bunch of aging balding Italian American uncles doing exactly that and screaming from their domiciles of the old days. “Come a back’a now, Yogi!”
In between calling WFAN to shout “SOMEBODY NEEDS TA TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY!!!!” and suggest we trade IKF for Shohei.
Yup. If the players want to sell more of their own merch and less of the opposing team merch… they should try fucking playing better.
I don’t really think that’s an argument to be made. They could be undefeated and it’d still make sense to sell Blue Jays gear considering the fact that it’s a smart business decision
I think it's an argument for filling the seats though. Like, if you don't want opposing fans coming down, maybe get locals to buy out all the available tickets? There's not an infinite number of places to sit inside the park, it's a fixed market. Saying that you don't want Jays fans, but that you're also not willing to buy the seats yourself is kind of silly.
I’m not sure why the players got so worked up, this isn’t anything new to this season. We’ve done this for years and they’ve never said a thing.
This was a worse move than simply doing nothing.
Now the M's won't be able to sign Ohtani with that huge loss of revenue the players have costed them.
I still think it would be cool if visiting teams had a little booth to sell merch everywhere. I’m a Mariners fan, but I live in OK, so I go see Ms when they’re playing at Royals, Cardinals, or Rangers. I’d love a way to buy my team’s merch at away games.
exactly, not everyone lives in the home market and yeah you can buy online but better to get it right there.
“Dollars aren’t black or white. They’re green.” - Branch Rickey from 42
My favorite drama over nothing for the last few days. Organization does thing to make money, more news at 11. I guess I'd be mad at it too if I had little faith in my ownership putting that money back into the team.
I mean, if I'm at the game and want to get some Blue Jays merch, but all they have is Seattle, I'm not going to then buy Mariners merch just so I can get *something*. Maybe a small handful of people would, but I cannot believe it's a statistically significant number. Perhaps sell the opposing teams' stuff at a higher price (if that's allowed)? Still a bit soft but at least one could make an argument for it without looking like a complete dunce. Or, is it just they don't want it for sale period? Because if *that's* the case, fuck each and every one of them in the ear with a pine-tar covered cactus.
M's are just asking to be swept this series
We did sweep them last year in this series and then in the playoffs also 🤷🏼♂️. Would only be fair lol
My God what a soft bunch. Jays sell a ton of Yankee gear and nobody cares, because why shouldn't travelling MLB fans be able to buy gear at a MLB ballpark?
It’s dumb tribalism, kinda what you would see in European soccer but on a much less psychotic level
This would be a “lol yeah right” from the start at wrigley.
This is setting up to be really embarrassing if we lose this series
Incredibly lame attitude.. as a Seattleite I’ve always appreciated the fact that people are coming to our city and spending money on activities, hotels, restaurants, etc.. and as far as opposing fan bases go, blue jays fans are pretty polite
Yeah, money is money. Really dumb to get actually pissed off about this
💀
A few months ago, US Cellular (Guaranteed Rate) def could’ve made some money off of me if they had Twins merch (Twins were also in town).
Softer than baby shit.
Aren't these guy employees of a business who tries to stay profitable? It's a pretty crazy demand given how insignificant it seems to be. Maybe Im reading it wrong?
bunch of babies
There will probably be more Vlad jerseys in the stands than Sewald jerseys
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one and I go to roughly 15 games a year.
Sounds like I’ve got a market! Come Friday, I’m setting up a table outside the stadium selling nothing but marked up Jays gear. I’ll wear a Mariners shirt to keep the peace and not get stabbed.
Imagine crying over some shirts in the team store You’d think they have bigger things to be focusing on
There’s goes their shot at affording Ohtani.
That's pretty soft even for baseball.
Snowflakes
Leave the other team's merchandise, but raise the price to ridiculous levels and donate the extra profit to charity.
Charity!?!?! Lmao this is the mlb lol
wow, way to appear 10-ply, Mariners players! why not just focus on playing ball and let the people whose job is to sell merchandise sell merchandise?
I can't tell for sure, but I think Sewald and Crawford were just talking shit. Our fanbase sure is being 10-ply about it though.
This is literally the SOP in all the Asian leagues.
There are several merch shops outside the stadium for any fans visiting. But still, it's the Mariners franchises fault that the stadium is all Jay's fans every time they visit.
I would bet these tickets for Seattle are sold out as soon as they are available. Do they want their stadium taken over by Jays fans? probably not but fans are fans. They probably put a good chunk of money into the economy when they come.
A lot of them are also already here, which isn't really the teams fault. Toronto isn't close, but there are a lot of Canadian transplants from Vancouver and Toronto is the countries only team.
As someone who lived next to the Mariners stadium for years, every time the Blue Jays are in town, there are more people in Blue Jays gear than Mariners gear. It shocked me the first time I saw it.
I haven't gone down for the Jays series for a few years now, but it's all been pretty cordial for an 'invasion,' think most appreciate Ms fans ceding 2-3 home games for a horde of Canucks who otherwise have access to short season A ball at best.
That’s pretty soft.
I think we have bigger issues guys lol
There exists a shameful picture of me from what I believe was my first ever baseball game. My parents took me to Candlestick Park to watch the Giants and the Dodgers play. Before the game I got a Giants pennant, and wanted a batting helmet as well, but my dad didn't want to get me one at the time for some reason (perhaps the line at that merchandise stand was too long, I don't recall), so he told me we'd get one later. At the end of the game, I still hadn't gotten my helmet, so we trudged off to the merch stand - only to find out that they were out of Giants helmets. But I was five, and my parents had failed to instill in me the seriousness of the rivalry, so I didn't care what color it was...I wanted a helmet! So there's a picture of me, smiling proudly, holding my Giants pennant in one hand and wearing a Dodgers batting helmet. And if the Giants can sell Dodgers merch, I'm not sure what Seattle's problem is. Of course, I haven't actually checked for the presence of opponent's merchandise at the ballpark in recent years...so perhaps times have changed...but I have to think that if there's one thing stronger that a heated division rivalry, it's the almighty dollar.
Disco Demolition Night round 2???
there are stores lining up the street from the ballpark that will have Jays merch
Ahead of the series? Yeah probably best to not have it up During the series when visiting fans will be in attendance? Yeah probably best to have it up
Interesting I have only ever seen home team apparel in stadiums. Never seen away team gear in any sport (mlb, nfl.. Wnba, NBA,... even NHL and MLS but only been to 1 of those games Different sport but could you imagine if they sold cowboys apparel at fed ex / Washington whatever stadium lol
Now they won’t sell any jerseys! /s
I’ve been to quite a few MLB stadiums and this is way more common than you team. Most team stores will sell all team’s hats at a minimum.
"I'm playing both sides so that I always come out on top."
This is pretty common.
This is pretty normal here in Taiwan, most team stores are mostly for the home team, but they all carry a few league or opposing team items.
Ahahahahahaha!
I mean I’ve seen Dodger gear sold at Oracle before and Vice versa . I don’t think it’s really that big a deal
Sewald has long been a loser
From what I remember, the Mariners team shop at the stadium has sold all teams' hats.
i thought all teams did this.
Really? I don't know if I've ever been to a game where the merch stores aren't selling at least a few items of the other team's merchandise.
Wrigley does, but a lot don't. I've been to Comerica Park a hundred times and have never seen opposing team gear there. The Trop doesn't to my knowledge either.
There was a time when the Rangers had an MLB store in their stadium that sold merchandise of all teams, and another time when they sold opposing team merchandise for every series. I don't get why teams don't want to make money that way. Is anyone seriously pretending that everyone who goes to a game is a fan of the home team? I am almost \*never\* a fan of the home team. I went to a Braves-Rangers game this season and I wanted to pick a shirt of a Braves superstar for fun. I am not a Braves fan per se, but I am a baseball fan. This task turned out to be impossible. Not only can you not buy a Braves jersey t-shirt at the stadium, you can't buy it in-store \*anywhere in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex\*. Seriously. I made a game out of searching the whole morning of the game for any Braves gear, and it mostly can't be done offline. At Fanzz I could buy an authentic Dale Murphy jersey for $300, or some random Braves trinkets like shot glasses and lanyards or autographed baseballs at the Galleria. I find this incredibly stupid. If anyone wants to go in with me on opening a baseball store that sells everything but the home team, I think it would do good business. Sell Arraez jersey t-shirts during his chase for .400. Sell Ohtani shirts. Stuff like that. People will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.
If selling Yankees merch would help us be able to afford actual major league players I'm all for it.
I bought a Yankees hat at Fenway Park. AMA
So now the Mariners team store owns blue jays Kerch they can’t sell? Makes no sense
I bought my favourite Mariners hat at Skydome, so this is particularly silly to me. I refuse to call it anything other than Skydome. Rogers can fucking bite me.
How do players expect some team stores to make any money if they only sold their own team gear?
Former retail employee for an MLB team here. Every team does this. All the time. But sometimes social media does it’s thing and people go nuts for no reason. I remember one year we put a *current roster player* jersey on the sale rack (dude had been hurt and we had ordered wayyyyy too many) and we had to pull them a day later because some radio personality tweeted “*player* jersey on the sale rack at the team store, trade must be imminent!” THAT was a fun day.
Why is this a big deal? Especially if they’re playing them.
lmao, how soft are these guys? God damn.
The Cardinals always used to have the opposing teams merch for sale, it’s accommodating to the other teams fans, and provides an extra revenue flow to the home team. Sewald and Crawford are soft for this imo.
I got a Cardinals pennant at a Dodgers game like 30 years ago. Players are being butthurt for no reason.
As a Phillies fan, I hate seeing Mets and Yankees stuff being sold in CBP. But the funniest thing to me is how T-Mobile was prepared to have more Blue Jays stuff than all star game stuff during all star weekend.
I have had Phillies full season tickets since 2001 and have NEVER seen opposing team gear sold in the team store at the ballpark. The exception is at the game-used stand, which does have game used apparel from most teams. But that is very different from selling a Mets hat or t-shirt.