After the team won the first WNBA championship, Chicagoans hope to join the Chicago Sky trend. It may be difficult to find jerseys and T-shirts to show off their fans before the team’s championship celebrations on Tuesday.
Fans can find Sky T-shirts and sweatshirts online, but they need to wait for delivery. There are fewer choices in the store.
Brian Panganiban, the creator of the social media fan account The Sky Show Chi, said: “For a league with such people who are willing to buy, there are not as many as you want.” “I think merchandise is an important part of sports fans. You want to. Represent, contribute and show off your interaction with the team."
The 30-year-old Panganiban from Roscoe Village posted a selection of photos on Twitter during the playoffs at several stores, including Dick's Sporting Goods on Goose Island and the Nike Store on Michigan Avenue with the hashtag #WNBAWeNeedMerch.
He said that Dick's Sporting Goods is often the best choice for fans to find goods in physical stores. An employee of the chain’s Goose Island store said that the store has Sky clothing, but the championship T-shirts and sweatshirts available online will not be on shelves in Chicago until later this week.
JC Penney sells Sky merchandise online, but not in the store. Owner Brad Rosen said that the Chicago Sports World in Wrigleyville did not see a large demand for Sky clothing, and the number of purchases was relatively small, but sold out earlier in the season.
There are more options online, but even so, jerseys may be scarce. Fanatics and Lids did not list any sky jerseys in their online store. At Nike and Dick's Sporting Goods, the only player with an adult size jersey is Diamond DeShields. At Dick's Sporting Goods, children can choose DeShields or Courtney Vandersloot jerseys.
Cheryl Bernard said that she and her 12-year-old daughter Taylor have been looking for Candace Parker and Kahleah Copper jerseys since August, but found nothing— —Even in the Wintrust Arena store when they were participating in the Sky game. Due to supply chain issues, it is also difficult for retailers to keep inventory of certain jerseys for teams in other leagues (including the White Sox).
Bernard bought the championship T-shirt after the team won, but the online store warned her that they may not ship until November 1.
"To say I'm stupid, I think I thought they would prepare these things," said 37-year-old Bernard from Forest Park. "When a team wins the Super Bowl, they have it. They are hurting the ladies here."
Leah von Essen, 27, from Hyde Park, said it reminded her of the challenge of finding clothing to celebrate the U.S. women's football during the 2019 World Cup. Her boyfriend-a former WNBA skeptic-now wanted enough of a Candace Parker jersey, but couldn't find it.
"People have put forward these arguments that the reason why equal pay for equal work does not exist is because the women's sport does not generate enough income and such opportunities are repeatedly missed," she said.
The team’s success and growing enthusiasm persuaded at least one Chicago sports fan clothing store to add Sky merchandise to its shelves for future use.
Clark Street Sports has been considering starting to provide clothing for the team earlier this year, but has not placed any orders, said co-owner Jason Carriff. In the past he was not sure if there would be enough interest, but this season there is no doubt.
"The number of people who have called us in the past few days has been very high," Caref said.