The Rolling Stones have historically been a savvy marketing machine, churning out creative lines of merchandise over the course of their 57-year run as “The World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band.” Their current “No Filter” tour of North America is no exception.
Bravado, the Stones’ exclusive brand management and merchandising vendor and part of Universal Music Group, signed a short-term deal with the NFL to sell co-branded tour T-shirts and fashion football jerseys. The tour includes stops at 13 NFL stadiums this summer, and the merchandise will carry the official marks and colors of teams in each of those markets as well as the Stones’ iconic lips-and-tongue logo.
Both items are available at retail stands inside the stadiums and merchandise trailers outside the venues, plus the Rolling Stones store on the band’s official e-commerce site.
The agreement extends to the remainder of the 31 NFL teams served by NFL Properties, the league’s licensing arm. The exception is the Dallas Cowboys, which run their own apparel licensing operation, said Nicole Pozzi, the NFL’s director of consumer products. For those teams that don’t have the Stones booked at their stadiums, the co-branded merchandise will be on the Stones’ commerce site soon and remain available through September, Pozzi said.
The co-branded items aren’t available on NFLshop.com. Fanatics runs the league’s online merchandise and does not have a deal with Bravado, Pozzi said. Teams could potentially carry the merchandise at their stadiums, but those details have not been completed, she said.
The co-branded T-shirts sell for $50. The jerseys cost $100, which is $25 less than the price at the first few shows of the tour, including the June 21 opener at Soldier Field in Chicago. The price reduction was a market-based decision, starting July 19 in Jacksonville, and it remains in effect for the rest of the tour, said Christine Buckley, Bravado’s vice president of global brand management.
