Super Bowl Apparel Goes Global: Patriots’ Loss is Win for Children and Families in Need

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s where the shirts go after the game. Even though the N.Y. Giants won Super Bowl XLII, the winners will also be children in Nicaragua, Romania, and several other countries. Through a partnership between the NFL and World Vision, millions of dollars worth of the incorrectly titled, New England Patriot’s licensed apparel will bring joy to families in extreme poverty.

Since 1994, World Vision has accepted hundreds of official shirts and caps immediately following football’s biggest event. Instead of being destroyed, the losing team’s shirts and caps are shipped from the Super Bowl host city to World Vision’s Gifts-in-Kind Distribution Center in Pittsburgh, PA. There, they are sorted and added to shipments of other goods requested by World Vision field staff in various countries. Once through customs in the destination country, World Vision workers distribute the apparel to children and families in need, many of whom have never owned new clothing in their lives. David Krichavsky, the NFL’s Director of Community Relations, said:

“World Vision helps us to ensure that no NFL apparel goes to waste. We are pleased to find a good home for clothing by getting it to those who need it most.”

Additionally, World Vision receives and distributes playoff contender apparel that is unsalable in the United States and is donated by retailers and manufacturers. These donations include shirts, hats, sweatshirts and other clothing of teams that advance but are eliminated in the playoffs. In 2007, the combined value of goods donated by Dick’s Sporting Goods, the Sports Authority, and Reebok was approximately $2.5 million.