While the loss of the Cincinnati Bengals in this year’s AFC Championship Game was devastating for their fans, there is an upside to the defeat in the form of unused pre-printed NFL merchandise being donated to overseas charities.
This year marks the ninth year that the NFL has partnered with Good360 to distribute unutilized championship and Super Bowl clothing to organizations overseas that have identified a need for the people they serve.
“Nine years ago, we had been telling the NFL about what Good360 was, and when they realized how we could help with the gear that was not used that they didn’t want to go into the market, we partnered with them to get it in the hands of the needy once the games are over,” said Good360 CEO Romaine Seguin.
Seguin said the gear consists of hats, shirts, jerseys and any other items proclaiming the Bengals to be the AFC champions. “It’s anything that was made under the control of the NFL that week leading up to the AFC and NFC championship games,” she said.
Seguin said the amount of items from the games donated each year varies based on the location of the teams. “The amount will depend every year because the NFL really knows there are teams with a greater demand in the market than other teams,” she said. “It’s thousands of pieces that get donated.”
Good360 has more than 100,000 non-profit organizations in its network, and they ensure the charities that use the items are legitimate organizations that serve their communities.
“The items go into a country that textiles are not one of their leading income sources, and they have a great need for them,” said Seguin.
Seguin said she is unsure about the cost to produce the unused items or their possible resale value. “We don’t know actually what’s in it; we just know we’re picking up a lot of boxes that are not even opened, and they just want them out of the country, and they want to make sure they are repurposed and in the hands of the needy,” she said. “They just want to make sure it gets into a hot country where someone needs a hat or a cool country where someone needs a shirt on their back.”
Good360 has been in operation for 40 years this year, and also works with Major League Baseball. “We work with large donors who either have a recall issue, have an inventory hiccup from the supply chain, a return issue, or they just want to get something out of their product line,” said Seguin. “No matter what comes in as a donation, there is a need; it’s just finding the need to repurpose it.”
Reach John Hackley at 937-402-2571.
