eBay Sales Reveal Most Popular Sweet 16 Teams

Content Originally Published by Sports Collectors Daily on Friday March 25, 2011.

The road to the NCAA championship is paved not only with victories and upsets, but also Air Jordans, foam fingers, Wilt Chamberlain basketball cards and big spending in the Big East.  eBay has released a special "Top Shopped" sports edition report¹based on what its global community of 94 million is shopping for -- from sports memorabilia to must-have team merchandise -- and uncovers what inspires the loyalties and opens the wallets of college basketball fans.

eBay's tournament bracket predicts that Ohio State, with nearly $200,000 worth of team-related merchandise sold on eBay this year, will take the NCAA men's basketball championship title after defeating the University of Florida. Now, in advance of the regional finals, eBay ranks favorites³ based on how the sixteen squads still standing have not only captured fan devotion but also their dollars.

"eBay is uniquely positioned to spot trends showing what America is most excited about," said Meredith Barnett, editorial director of eBay's online trend magazine, The Inside Source.

"On eBay, there are three times more items related to NCAA basketball listed in March than the remaining 11 months of the year. We took a look at those stats and sales to see what makes college basketball fans tick."

The Remaining 16, by the eBay Numbers:

1. Ohio State - $170,272

2. Florida - $162,584

3. Duke - $127,492

4. Kentucky - $111,722

5. Kansas - $106,497

6. Wisconsin - $42,657

7. UNC - $35,524

8. Florida State - $34,066

9. BYU - $19,011

10. Arizona - $14,740

11. San Diego State - $8,656

12. Connecticut - $3,804

13. Marquette - $1,478

14. VCU - $1,478

15. Butler - $1,441

16. Richmond - $496

America's 2011 Top Basketball Obsessions:

Gotta-Have It: The most popular fan gear of all? Shot glasses, with foam fingers a close second.

Big East are Big Spenders: Eastern Conference fans are the biggest shoppers, buying $520,364 worth of goods (across teams). The Western conference follows, with a close $466,148 in related sales, followed by the Southwest and the Southeast with $342,590 and $307,207 in sales, respectively.

Catch Some Air: Michael Jordan still takes the cake as the NBA player with the most related merchandise sold on eBay this year, coming in just under $2 million. In just over the three months of 2011, there have been 67,277 pairs of Air Jordans sold on eBay.

Victory for Coach K: Duke fans show their loyalty to the Blue Devil leader, with sales for all Mike Krzyzewski-related items skyrocketing above the other household-name coaches, even infamous Bob Knight, by nearly $3,000.

Winner Takes All: In the first three months of 2011, shoppers have bought $126,051 more Duke-related merchandise on eBay than Butler-related merchandise. That makes each of the two points by which Duke won the 2010 title over Butler worth $63,025.5.

Cat Fight! Villanova, Arizona, and Kansas State don't have anything on Kentucky. Of all the four "Wildcats" who began the tournament, Kentucky fans rank first, buying $111,722 worth of merchandise. Villanova places a distant second, with fans spending $18,672, followed by Arizona and Kansas State.

MVP - Most Valuable Possession: The most expensive basketball-related item sold on eBay this year was a 2011 Men's Big East Basketball Tournament- All Sessions ticket package, for which one lucky fan paid $13,600. The second most expensive basketball related item to sell on eBay so far in 2011 was a 1961-62 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain Philadelphia Warriors card, which sold for $7,001.