From NASCAR to the NFL, sports licenses hit a home run with boys of all ages. In a recent License Tracker survey conducted by KidzEyes and Funosophy Inc., 3,700 boys ages 6 to 17 were asked to rate 21 of the top boy licenses on the market, including several sports licenses, in terms of popularity for holiday gifts. Top 10 Boy Licenses
The four sports licenses included in the survey ranked among boys’ top picks — in fact, boys ranked NFL-related licenses just a few points behind Star Wars! Also notable is that all four sports licenses beat out the ever-popular Lord of the Rings license in terms of holiday popularity.
"Very Popular" Boy Licenses for the 2005 Holiday Season
| Ranking | Licensed Property | % of Boys Ages 6-17 Years |
| 1 | STAR WARS | 49% |
| 2 | NFL (NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE) | 46% |
| 3 | YU-GI-OH | 43% |
| 4 | SPIDER-MAN | 42% |
| 5 | NBA (NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE) | 41% |
| 6 | NASCAR | 39% |
| 7 | MLB (MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL) | 38% |
| 8 | LORD OF THE RINGS | 36% |
| 9 | DRAGON BALL Z | 29% |
| 10 | HOT WHEELS | 29% |
Age Breakdowns
Each of the sports licenses included on the list received fairly high popularity ratings from boys of all ages. Younger boys expressed the most interest in NASCAR, while older boys gave the NFL-related licenses top scores. Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association rounded out the middle in most age segments.
"Very Popular" Ratings By Age Group
| Boys Ages 6-8 Years | Boys Ages 9-11 Years | Boys Ages 12-14 Years | Boys Ages 15-17 Years |
| NASCAR | 38% | 44% | 36% | 38% |
| NFL | 35% | 49% | 49% | 48% |
| MLB | 30% | 41% | 45% | 35% |
| NBA | 29% | 44% | 46% | 46% |
Gainers and Losers
Rankings of these popular licenses can also be compared to their standings in Funosophy’s 2004 Holiday Wish List survey, conducted in late October of 2004. Since last October, three of the four licenses have gained several popularity points and the fourth has remained constant. Although the NFL license topped the charts both years, NASCAR crossed the finish line first in terms of biggest gain with an increase of six points. None of the licenses lost points.
"Very Popular" Ratings By Year
| Boys 6-17 | 2005 | 2004 |
| NFL | 46% | 45% |
| NBA | 41% | 37% |
| NASCAR | 39% | 33% |
| MLB | 38% | 38% |
Seasonality
Also interesting is that the popularity of these sports licenses does not seem to be affected by seasonality, as indicated in the consistency of the scores from the October 2004 survey to the current survey.
"Although you would guess that the popularity of a sports license would fluctuate between in-season and out-of-season timing, the appeal of major licenses remains fairly constant throughout the year," said Nancy Zwiers, CEO of Funosophy Inc., a consulting and brand building firm for toys and entertainment products.
Written by Nancy Zwiers, CEO of Funosophy, Inc., a brand-building consulting and research firm in the toy industry. License Tracker research was conducted by Funosophy and its research partner KidzEyes among a nationally representative sample of kids ages 6 to 17 years. It is available for purchase. For details, go to www.funosophy.com or call (562) 436-5251.
