Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reebok NFL Replica Jerseys: A Case for Postponement1
jerseys out there and retailers are screaming for the teams and players I
donˉt have! Every year, it seems like we have the right mix of inventory
going into the season, and then some team that no one expected to do well
gets off to a 4-0 start, and the team everyone expected to contend for the
Super Bowl is losing games. Suddenly I have 1000s of jerseys I canˉt sell
and 1000s of orders I canˉt fill.±
Tony is responsible for the inventory of NFL replica jerseys that Reebok maintains in
their central distribution center. It is early October, and the NFL season is well underway.
exhausted. I wish there was someway to plan inventory that would allow me to react
faster to hot players and teams.But with player demand changing so much from year to
year, I really canˉt increase inventory, in fact I like to minimize inventory at year-end.±
Background
Reebok International Ltd. is headquartered in Canton, Mass.The company employs
approximately 7400 people, and is widely known for their sports apparel and footwear
brands. Reebok was still a small British shoe company in 1979, when Paul Fireman
acquired the exclusive North American license to sell Reebok shoes.2 In 1985 Reebok
USA acquired the original British Reebok, and Reebok International went public.
Reebok in 2003 had total revenues of $ 3,485 M and realized income from operations of
$157 M. Paul Fireman continues to be the chairman and CEO.
In December 2000 Reebok signed a 10-year contract with the National Football League
(NFL) that granted an exclusive license to Reebok to manufacture, market, and sell NFL
licensed merchandise including on-field uniforms, sideline apparel, practice apparel,
footwear and an NFL-branded apparel line. The National Football League is the premier
Copyright 2005, John C. W. Parsons.This case was prepared by John C. W. Parsons under the direction
of Professor Stephen C. Graves as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or
ineffective handling of an administrative situation.The case is based on the authorˉs MLog thesis, °Using
a Newsvendor Model for Demand Planning of NFL Replica Jerseys± supervised by Professor Stephen C.
Graves, June 2004. 2
reebok/useng/history/1890.htmDraft 2005-02-20
professional league for American football, consisting of 32 teams.Teams are organized
in two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football
Conference (NFC), and in four divisions within each conference.
The history of American football traces back to 1869.3 The Arizona Cardinals are the
oldest continuing operation in pro football, dating back to 1899
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