So Where Does Super Bowl Loser Merch Go?

This past Sunday, I spent the evening dancing in my living room in Minneapolis, celebrating a tense win by the New York Football Giants over the hated (mostly by me and other New Yorkers) New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. The game was tight all the way through, and both teams put their respective fans through the wringer, making us all wonder who would come out on top.

Fortunately for me, and sporting goods stores throughout New York and New Jersey, the Giants proved victorious. As a result, moments after the game was over, there were metric tons of Giants-emblazoned Super Bowl goodies for sale, letting fans show their pride in Eli Manning and the rest of the team. The team was even wearing hats that proclaimed them as champions during post-game interviews.

That’s because all of the merchandise was printed up way in advance of the game. So that raises the question: what happens to all the merchandise that would’ve been sold if the other team had won?

It’s an interesting question, and it speaks to the unpredictable nature of sports in general. No matter who wins, there’s got to be hats and t-shirts ready. Of course, I’m not the first person to ask this question. Fortunately, it’s been tackled (BOING) before–in fact, this exact same match-up (with the exact same outcome) occurred back in 2008. That time, and seemingly every time, the answer of where the losers’ merchandise goes is the same: Pittsburgh.

An ABC news affiliate, WTAE in Pittsburgh, explained back in ’08 that the Patriots’ merch would be headed to a local warehouse owned by World Vision, a not-for-profit group that tries to fulfill the needs of those suffering in third world countries. Bringing them brand new clothing–even if it celebrates a sports victory that never happened–fits right in with their mission.

Interestingly, you’d think it’d be relatively easy to find people interested in collecting sports oddities like this–but eBay is curiously blank when you try to find merchandise for Patriots 2012 Super Bowl champs.

Personally, I think it’d be really cool to own a t-shirt celebrating a victory for the wrong team. It’d make me feel like I got it from some alternate universe or something…but then, I’m a pretty weird guy. As if you didn’t know.

[Via WTAE Pittsburgh]