(NEXSTAR) – Just moments after the Eagles officially clinched their Super Bowl win, T-shirts, hats and other merchandise declaring them champions hit the market.
The exact same thing would have happened had the Chiefs come out on top.
The NFL plans for both outcomes so they’re ready regardless of who wins. What that inevitably means is a whole lot of merchandise that’s pre-printed and pre-made – but fans won’t ever be able to buy it. What happens to all that swag?
For 11 years, the NFL has been teaming with the nonprofit Good360 to repurpose the losing team’s unsellable apparel from the Super Bowl. Good360 gathers up all the gear and redistributes it to foreign nonprofits that can put the donations to use.
This year, the losing team’s merchandise is heading to nonprofits in Ukraine, Mongolia, Georgia, Estonia and Latvia, the organization told Nexstar.
They do the same thing for the NFC and AFC Championship games, which means there’s some Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders gear on its way out of the country, too.
The recipients change year-to-year based on need and other factors. To protect the NFL’s brand, Good360 says it vets donation recipients to make sure the sweatshirt and caps won’t resurface and be resold.
“The NFL has strict controls to ensure that the general public will never see it,” the organization said of the losing team’s merchandise last year.
