Lions had 4th-highest jersey sales in past month

Despite the Detroit Lions’ recent modicum of success, the team hasn’t really made that jump in popularity. The team is constantly being snubbed in fan voting for Pro Bowls. They always seem to be one of the bottom five teams in terms of value—according to Forbes they were 31st last year. And it has been a long, long time since any Lions player topped the charts in jersey sales.

But at least that last one appears to have changed now. According to the DICK’S Sporting Goods Jersey Report, over the past 30 days, the Lions have sold the fourth-most jerseys in the league. Only the Patriots, Cowboys and Broncos have sold more.

Obviously, these numbers are highly influenced by the release of Detroit’s new uniforms back in April. Of all 32 teams, the Lions are the only one to make any drastic changes to the jersey, which included a slight modification of the logo, a brand new font and the releases of new Color Rush and throwback jerseys.

As for popularity among individual players, it will come as no surprise that Matthew Stafford has benefited most from this uniform change. Over the past month, only Tom Brady, Dak Prescott and Carson Wentz have sold more jerseys at DICK’s Sporting Goods. For reference, Stafford ranked just 46th at the end of the 2016 season.

Interestingly enough, Golden Tate is the second most popular jersey for the Lions. He came in at 25th in jersey sales over the past month after finishing the season way down at 94th.

Though it remains to be seen whether this popularity will last when the novelty of the new jerseys wears off, it’s still good to see Lions fans out there supporting the team. Hopefully the wins will follow.