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No matter what happens out in the field, the real MVP of the 2018-19 NFL season is—quite literally—Tom Brady, according to both the NFLPA’s top 50 players list and NFLshop.com’s list of top-selling jerseys.
Speaking of the Superbowl, the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams contributed three players each to the NFLPA’s list this year as they head off to big championship. See the top 25 below.
Retail sales of NFL licensed merchandise in the U.S./Canada jumped 3.2% in 2017 to reach an estimated $3.64 billion. Not that bad, compared to 3.7% growth in 2016 and 3.4% in 2015—but considerably lower than the 5.2% rate observed in 2014. Note that sales of products based on licensed player properties (under the purview of the NFLPA) account for roughly one-third of total NFL-based sales as calculated by TLL.
The NFL also tracks the best-selling NFL jerseys, by player, through NFLshop.com. Approximately half of the retail sales of licensed NFL merchandise can be attributed to jerseys (which ring up at $99.99 apiece).
Data Source: NFLShop.com | |||
Rank | Player | Position | Team |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tom Brady | QB | New England Patriots |
2 | Khalil Mack | LB | Chicago Bears |
3 | Patrick Mahomes | QB | Kansas City Chiefs |
4 | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | Dallas Cowboys |
5 | Saquon Barkley | RB | New York Giants |
6 | Drew Brees | QB | New Orleans Saints |
7 | Baker Mayfield | QB | Cleveland Browns |
8 | Carson Wentz | QB | Philadelphia Eagles |
9 | Dak Prescott | QB | Dallas Cowboys |
10 | JuJu Smith-Schuster | WR | Pittsburgh Steelers |
For the second year ever, Tom Brady tops the list of NFL players with the most licensed retail sales (the last time was in the 2015-16 season). This year marks Brady’s 14th appearance among the top three (counting quarterly reports); the quarterback has never ranked outside the top nine.
Such staying power is unique—roughly 113 players have appeared on the annual list over the years. The largest share (35%) of players showed up just once, 19% twice, 16% three times, 12% five times, and 10% four times.
Just eight players (or 7%) have landed on the top 50 list every year since the NFLPA first began tracking such data for the 2013-14 season:
- Tom Brady (No. 1 for the 2018-19 season, QB, New England Patriots),
- Aaron Rodgers (No. 5, QB, Green Bay Packers),
- Russell Wilson (No. 11, QB, Seattle Seahawks),
- Rob Gronkowski (No. 15, TE, New England Patriots),
- Drew Brees (No. 16, QB, New Orleans Saints),
- J.J. Watt (No. 22, DE, Houston Texans),
- Cam Newton (No. 37, QB, Carolina Panthers), and
- Ben Roethlisberger (No. 43, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers).
The top-5 club is similarly small, with 11 players dominating the last six seasons. Tom Brady appears in the upper echelons of the annual ranking 5 times, followed by Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson with 4 appearances each.
Data Source: NFLPA | ||||||
For 2013-14 through 2018-19 NFL Seasons | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 |
1 | Russell Wilson | Russell Wilson | Tom Brady | Ezekiel Elliott | Dak Prescott | Tom Brady |
2 | Peyton Manning | Peyton Manning | Peyton Manning | Dak Prescott | Ezekiel Elliott | Dak Prescott |
3 | Colin Kaepernick | Tom Brady | Russell Wilson | Tom Brady | Tom Brady | Saquon Barkley |
4 | Robert Griffin III | Colin Kaepernick | Aaron Rodgers | Dez Bryant | Russell Wilson | Ezekiel Elliott |
5 | Aaron Rodgers | Aaron Rodgers | Dez Bryant | Odell Beckham Jr. | Odell Beckham Jr. | Aaron Rodgers |
The fastest-growing player this year was Patrick Mahomes (QB, Kansas City Chiefs) who made a historic climb to No. 7 from No. 42 on the Q2 2018-19 list, a jump of 35 spots. This marks the first time he has appeared in the top 10.
Five rookies appeared in the top 50 this season, led by:
- Saquon Barkley (No. 3, RB, New York Giants),
- Baker Mayfield (No. 26, QB, Cleveland Browns),
- Sam Darnold (No. 40, QB, New York Jets),
- Josh Allen (No. 46, QB, Buffalo Bills), and
- Leighton Vander Esch (No. 47, LB, Dallas Cowboys).
Amongst the sales highlights provided by the NFLPA for the 2018-19 season:
- Female fans helped propel young stars Mayfield and Patrick Mahomes to the top ranks; the two players led sales of all women’s apparel from G-III Apparel Group.
- Brady, Carson Wentz (QB, Philadelphia Eagles), Barkley, Odell Beckham, Jr. (WR, New York Giants), and Aaron Rodgers (QB, Green Bay Packers) ranked as the top five in youth apparel from Outerstuff. Mack ranked No. 9, the highest of any defensive player.
- Penn State fans again powered the former-Nittany Lion star Barkley to the top of collegiate co-branded wall decal sales by Fathead.
- Among sales of collegiate co-branded jerseys from Under Armour, Mahomes’ Texas Tech jersey led all players.
- Brady, Mahomes, Dak Prescott (QB, Dallas Cowboys), and Adam Thielen (WR, Minnesota Vikings) sold the most big head cutouts from Build-A-Head.
- Three quarterbacks ranked among the top 10 in headwear from New Era—and amongst them, Prescott sold twice as much as Brady and Brees.
- Mahomes unseated Russell Wilson (QB, Seattle Seahawks) as the best-seller of licensed novelty products from Wincraft.
- Brady and Rodgers sold the most player jigsaw puzzles by MasterPieces.
- Beckham, Jr. led sales of cake toppers from DecoPac for a second straight quarter, followed by Brady and Antonio Brown (WR, Pittsburgh Steelers).
- Matt Ryan (QB, Atlanta Falcons) was the leader of player ornament sales this holiday season by Hallmark.
Data source: NFLPA. As reported by over 70 NFLPA licensees such as Nike, Fanatics, Outerstuff, Fathead, McFarlane Toys, FOCO, Wincraft, and Funko. Licensed product categories include men’s, women’s, and youth game jerseys and t-shirts; player murals; collectible figures; matted and framed photos; bobbleheads; drinkware; calendars puzzles; and holiday ornaments. | |||
YTD 2018–19 Season (Mar. 1, 2018–Nov. 30, 2018) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Position | Team |
1 | Tom Brady | QB | New England Patriots |
2 | Dak Prescott | QB | Dallas Cowboys |
3 | Saquon Barkley | RB | New York Giants |
4 | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | Dallas Cowboys |
5 | Aaron Rodgers | QB | Green Bay Packers |
6 | Carson Wentz | QB | Philadelphia Eagles |
7 | Patrick Mahomes | QB | Kansas City Chiefs |
8 | Antonio Brown | WR | Pittsburgh Steelers |
9 | Deshaun Watson | QB | Houston Texans |
10 | Khalil Mack | LB | Chicago Bears |
11 | Russell Wilson | QB | Seattle Seahawks |
12 | Odell Beckham Jr. | WR | New York Giants |
13 | Adam Thielen | WR | Minnesota Vikings |
14 | Mitchell Trubisky | QB | Chigaco Bears |
15 | Rob Gronkowski | TE | New England Patriots |
16 | Drew Brees | QB | New Orleans Saints |
17 | Jimmy Garoppolo | QB | San Francisco 49ers |
18 | Zach Ertz | TE | Philadelphia Eagles |
19 | Alvin Kamara | RB | New Orleans Saints |
20 | Von Miller | LB | Denver Broncos |
21 | Kirk Cousins | QB | Minnesota Vikings |
22 | J.J. Watt | DE | Houston Texans |
23 | Todd Gurley | QB | Los Angeles Rams |
24 | Julio Jones | WR | Atlanta Falcons |
25 | Christian McCaffrey | RB | Carolina Panthers |