I've not read the whole thread, just wanted to say two things about the original article:
It's a model used in the AFL, European football and American sports
Crap.
In European football players are given squad numbers for the season, and they generally reflect a position.
Strikers are number 9, Goalies 1, right midfielders generally 7 (though sometimes this is the default for an attacker that can't get the 9 or 10 jersey), defenders 2 to 5 (sometimes defensive midfielders are 4 though), etc etc.
In most cases, players want certain jersey numbers and they are the lower numbers. Sometimes a player will turn up to a club and his positional jersey is taken already, and he has to do with another number. He will often then keep that number until such time as he leaves or the jersey that he wants becomes available. Sometimes a player will be dumped from the "1st team" and given a larger number and someone promoted to take a better (lower) number, but that is normally about ego more than anything, with the new star showing his pull.
The reason that you see a twat like beckham in 23 is that, when he moved to Real Madrid, Raul - a local who the crowds loved - had Beckham's 7 Jersey, so Beckham chose the ridiculous 23 (probably because Nike told him to) so he could "be like Mike."
Apart from generally representing a position, the number on the back of certain club's jerseys represent status as well, due to the history of players who have gone before you in that jersey. At Liverpool the 7 is adored, which is why it was such a big deal for Kewell to get it (pity he kept getting injured and couldn't live up to it). In many latin clubs, 10 is the jersey that you want, as it represents the cunning attacker who is the side's creative spark.
That certain numbers come with such history creates good stories and great drama when someone new comes in and takes that number, as opposed to American Sports where a new player takes a new number of his own and you have to wait and see whether that number becomes famous. Also, the American ideal of having your own number exacerbates the "fake superstar" phenomenom where marketing teams and the media drive up a player's number as a commodity after he has played just two good games, whereas in European football stepping into an historically poignant number actually means something.
Anyway, so what does this mean for sales? Nothing. The 7 jerseys of Beckham at Man U sold just as many as the 23 of Real Madrid. It's rubbish.
How they would sell more jerseys is this:
LOWER THE F*CKING PRICES!
Why would you buy a $120 jersey that you can only really wear to the game when you can buy a $40 polo that you could wear, say, on the golf course as well?
Such a move would allow Jarryd Hayne, for example, to decide against wearing the fullback's No.1, and instead choose any number he wished No.23, say and keep that number throughout his career.
God I would be sick if he did that.
23 is done. Leave it alone.
