Dick's Sporting Goods was going to offer Packers Super Bowl gear after Sunday's game. What happens to the merchandise now?

From JSOnline:

JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Green Bay Packers fans yell before the NFL NFC Championship football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Packers Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Photo: Associated Press)

Had Sunday gone differently, rabid Green Bay Packers fans surely would have been in the market for some immediate Super Bowl gear. 

And Dick's Sporting Goods advertised that the company would have this apparel available Sunday and early Monday, with extended hours to give Packers fans an early crack at gearing up for the big game.

But the Packers lost. So what happens now? You've heard the familiar lines about championship merchandise being shipped to impoverished countries when the team portrayed doesn't actually win. It turns out ... that's pretty much what happens.

Kyle Flanagan, the community marketing manager for Dick's Sporting Goods, said his company partners with Good360, a nonprofit organization that donates the clothing to countries in need, with a full-fledged retail donation program.

"No matter where the market is, whenever a team is on the verge of getting the conference championships, ... stores are obviously well equipped," Flanagan said.

"We have procedures in place, teamwork among stores and higher traffic areas; it's something that's well planned out. The Super Bowl is a little different in that it's only one game, whereas with the NBA or World Series, you sit back and wait (unsure of when a team will clinch). For this, we have a week break, which is obviously unique. We had a lot of exciting things planned, especially in the Green Bay store."

Flanagan said that included a DJ on hand in Green Bay to celebrate the win, with hours expected to run from postgame until midnight Sunday night and an opening Monday morning at 7 a.m., two hours before normal opening hours. But now, it's all for naught.

The merchandise is put back in boxes and turned over to Good360, which takes it from there.

Good360 calls itself the global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving, adding, "We partner with socially responsible companies to source highly needed goods and distribute them through our network of diverse nonprofits that support people in need."

Flanagan said he wasn't sure which countries would receive the clothing.

Flanagan said the only portion of Dick's Sporting Goods that would have opened was the area with the new merchandise near the front of the store. It may not have worked out this time, but he said keep an eye out ... the Milwaukee Bucks could provide a similar opportunity in a few months.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

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From: https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2020/01/20/what-happens-packers-super-bowl-merchandise-after-loss/4523227002/