LeBron James Lakers jersey sales are already going off the charts

By Cody Rivera | Jul 2, 2018

OAKLAND, CA - May 31: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers on the team bus before Game One of the 2018 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on May 31, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images) /

There’s a new basketball megastar in Los Angeles, and everybody wants his new jersey.

There have been a boatload of wildly popular players donning Los Angeles Lakers jerseys over the decades, such as Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant … and now LeBron James is officially joining that list.

While thousands of jerseys for those players have been sold over the years, perhaps none of them are going to be as in-demand as LeBron’s brand new Lakers jersey. It has been less than 24 hours since LeBron’s decision to take his talents to the City of Angels was announced, and according to an article on ESPN.com, Sunday cracked the top 10 sales days in NBA apparel for Fanatics, one of the world’s biggest retailers for sports merchandise.

Apparently, within the first three hours of sales after the news broke, there was a 600 percent spike in sales compared to Cavaliers jerseys four years ago, when LeBron announced that he would be returning to Cleveland.

And LeBron isn’t just driving jersey sales. NBA fans are already paying outrageous amounts of money for Lakers season tickets next season. ESPN’s Darren Rovell tweeted the details of a recent purchase on Stubhub.

$114,960.50: What someone just paid on StubHub, including fees, for two season tickets for Lakers games next season, up nine rows on center court. Comes out to $1,401.95 per game per seat. Does not include postseason.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 2, 2018

Essentially, LeBron drives revenue in just about every way possible. In about three months, the Staples Center will be packed to the rafters with people wearing purple and gold No. 23 jerseys, and jersey retailers everywhere will be raking in a couple of fortunes.

Next: Assessing the potential starting lineup for the LeBron Lakers

The LeBron frenzy makes complete sense though. It’s not every day that possibly the biggest superstar in NBA history joins one of the most successful, historic, popular franchises in the league. There hasn’t been this kind of star power in Los Angeles since Kobe Bryant retired, so it’s safe to say that the city is once again basketball crazy.

Get ready to start seeing those brand new No. 23 Lakers jerseys popping up everywhere you look … not just in LA, but all over the world.

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