Where do NFL Losing T-Shirts Team Go

Super Bowl Shirts: What Happens to Them When Teams Lose?

We already know that the victors get to wear their championship shirts as soon as the game is over. In fact, locker rooms of both teams are decked with official championship gear which they can easily change into right after the game. But do you ever wonder what happens to the shirts of the losing team's side? We poked around a bit to find out where the losing team's merch goes once the confetti has settled on the field.

Printing Shirts Like the Wind

When it comes to printing a massive number of custom shirts like Super Bowl tees, planning is key. Printing companies usually build a team to oversee the production of championship shirts alone. They spend at least six months preparing to meet such a huge demand for these shirts and making sure everything is ready - from the shirts that will be on standby inside the locker room for the winning team to change into to the several batches of shirts to be made sold at retail stores for fans to cop.

Another crucial factor to the prep time is the location. Depending on the location of the championship games and the number of shops in the area that will sell the merchandise, printers can take anywhere from three hours up to an entire day to get the products in position.

It is also this team's responsibility to pre-arrange the blank shirts, hats, sweaters, and other apparel. All the printing crew has to do is slap the logo of the winning team on them right after the game and pack them for dispatch to retail stores.

So Where Do the Losers' Shirts Go?

Almost three decades ago, it was NFL's practice to destroy merchandise of losing teams, but this was highly criticized for being wasteful and harmful to the environment. A lot of things have changed since then and the NFL, with the help of various organizations, has taken meaningful action to keep as much material out of landfills as possible.

Big sporting events like the NFL not only work with manufacturers, but they also collaborate with organizations to help them take care of unused apparel including those of the losing team's championship gear. In fact, they have the NFL Green program, an initiative where sponsors, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations work together to curb the environmental impact of NFL, Pro Bowl, and the NFL Draft.

In the case of official Super Bowl merchandise, it is the League's policy to donate unused shirts outside the United States and to ensure that no one profits off it. One of their partners is Good360, a nonprofit whose goal is to close the gap between owning too much stuff and barely having anything. Good360 links donors and beneficiaries from all over the world by sourcing goods such as clothes, shoes, and toys, and distributing them to communities in need. The League also works with Habitat for Humanity and the Salvation Army to help recover materials including décor, carpets, and other items that may be donated to various communities.

At the End of the Day, Everyone's A Winner

Well, sort of. There aren't a lot of things that feel as exhilarating as bagging a championship and we're pretty sure that Super Bowl winners and their fans know this all too well. And while it can be disheartening to place second in a league that takes an entire country's breath away, there is comfort in knowing that a losing team's merchandise is neither put to waste nor destroyed just because.

Donating perfectly usable clothes is a great way to promote a circular lifestyle, a way to reuse and recycle things so that they don't end up in landfills. A circular lifestyle may mean using garments repeatedly or repairing them to extend their shelf life until it's time to dispose of them properly. This is the part where we all win because if the environment wins, then so do we.

Finally, this is also a good reminder for organizations, companies, and even small groups that regularly produce outfits like custom team uniforms like t-shirts to pay attention to inventory and learn from trends and patterns so that they may be able to get better at predicting targets and curbing excesses and potential waste. We need to be mindful of our impact on the planet not just because sustainability is good for branding, but because we truly care how the cycle of manufacturing and distribution affects the environment.