Dressing rooms have a distinct fragrance. Pungent. Fetid. I could go on at great length and detail here, but at some point, and rather quickly, the words alone might make you toss this week’s “Second Thought” in the trash can, grab a bar of Irish Spring, and bolt for the shower.
Smell, it turns out, is turning into big business in the sports industry. Specifically, the individual scents of teams. Not everyone out there conjures up the odor of mold, Desenex, cheap beer, greasy grilled hot dogs, and stale cigar smoke when they imagine the distinct olfactory quality of their favorite club.
Just over a year ago, the Yankees, a team currently trying to rid the stink of Alex Rodriguez from their dressing room, unveiled their branded scent. Sure, go ahead, laugh. Eau de Bronx Bombers. The scent of Sabathia. Pettitte parfum No. 5. Hey, men, don’t you dare leave the Yankee pro shop without a tube of Mousse Skowron! Just a little Mousse’ll do ya.
Well, according to a recent SportsBusiness Journal report by Terry Lefton, the Yankee scent has produced $10 million in retail business since its debut in April 2012. With the Yanks’ payroll up around $200 million, that may seem merely a drop in the spittoon, but that’s $10 million made out of thin air, or wherever and however perfume is made. All revenue streams gladly accepted.
Granted, I should know how baseball perfume is produced, but I’m still having trouble calculating hardball metrics such as WAR and WHIP and OBP. If she hasn’t done so already, it’s a good bet the Globe’s Meredith Goldstein can tackle the manufacturing angle in her “Love Letters’’ column. Heck, Meredith may already have her own “Mending Hearts’’ scent for all I know. Meredith, if you don’t, ol’ Owe
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