Some people in Zambia, Nicaragua or possibly Armenia just became Denver Broncos fans. The hats, T-shirts and other apparel heralding the Denver Broncos as Super Bowl XLVIII champions will be shipped to people in need around the world rather than destroyed.
The Broncos last night were whipped by the Seattle Seahawks, 43-8, in Super Bowl XLVIII in East Rutherford, N.J. While the winning team dons the brand new apparel during post-game interviews, companies have to do something with the merchandise they produce just in case the other team won. Prior to 1996, the National Football League (NFL) would destroy the merchandise that was misprinted. World Vision has for the past 17 years received as a donation the merchandise bearing the championship logo of the losing Super Bowl team.
After goods have been received and inventoried, World Vision will alert its offices around the world of what is available, according to a spokesperson. Those who have a need in their projects for a particular item, such as sweatshirts in cold-weather countries or T-shirts in tropical regions, will make their requests and the Federal Way, Wash.-based charity will ship them over the next year. Receipts from prior championship games, from the NFL and other leagues, contributed to shipments of 60 pallets of product around the world last year.
It’s not yet determined where this year’s merchandise will be shipped but it’s likely to be distributed in places where World Vision has sent it in the past, including Bosnia, Mongolia, Uganda, Burundi, Congo, Mali and Rwanda, among others. Among the countries that received gear last year were Zambia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Armenia and Romania.
Chicago, Ill.-based BlueSoda Promo published an infographic detailing where all of the losing team’s apparel and merchandise for the last five Super Bowls have been shipped. So the only place to find those unattainable 19-0 New England Patriots T-shirts is Nicaragua.
