The Olympics generate a huge merch market, from apparel to collectibles – and not just for spectators. The athletes who made it onto Team USA not only won medals, they also received exclusive apparel and accessories to mark them as official competitors.
Kelly Brown, director of marketing and operations with Michigan-based distributor Green Giftz (PPAI 438899, Silver), wrote on LinkedIn that “the Olympics knows how to do swag RIGHT. I love going through Instagram and TikTok to see the athletes unbox their gifts. … It isn’t ‘just another hat’ for the rowers who qualified for the Olympics. It’s the hat they received when their dream came true.”
One of her favorite examples of athletes celebrating with the branded gifts they received shows the women’s American rugby union players unboxing their custom Team USA hats.
@usarugby Unboxing dreams🇺🇸✨ #ParisOlympics #TeamUSA #MTUSA #Paris2024 ♬ Best for video background music Chill Trap Hip Hop(837066) – KIh
“So many things are done right here,” says Brown. “First, they know the audience (athletes love hats), so they presented them in a beautiful gift box to make the experience memorable. [Then] the unique decoration method – note how they all hold it up to display the ‘MADE IT’ under the visor! Plus, a little congrats card. At the end of the day, this is just a hat, but look how they made it so memorable.”
Brown also points to a “gear haul” video by Big Ten champion swimmer Anna Peplowski showing off the brand-name bags, custom suitcases and their Team USA-branded contents she and the other swimmers received, including a Corkcicle water bottle, power adapter, notebook and tons of apparel, as well as personalized swim caps – and a couple bags of commemorative pins.
@anna_peplowski Team USA gear haul!! #usaathlete #parisolympics #teamusa #paris2024 #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Anna Peplowski
“The pins are huge at the Olympics,” says Brown. “Athletes and media folks covering the Olympics exchange their country pins with other people and try to collect as many from all the countries as they can. Why have Disney pins lasted so long? Because pins are great memorabilia!”
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Team USA Apparel Fans Can Buy
The athlete welcome kits include plenty of apparel, some of which is available to the public. This year, pieces from Ralph Lauren’s Team USA collection is available for anyone to purchase. Proceeds benefit the team, which, unlike most others around the world, is not government-funded.
The collection includes preppy staples like jackets, sweaters, rugby shirts and more, including the brand’s first 100% recycled polo shirt. Brown thinks these new Team USA polos might spark a trend. “I thought the polo was going away due to athleisure and work from home,” she says, “but I wonder if we will see a spike in those cotton pique ‘preppy’ polos that folks wore in the 2000s.”
@teamusa Team USA Media Summit gear haul 👀 Featuring @One leg man, @Ilona Maher and #JordynPoulter! #parisolympics #parisparalympics #teamusa #olympics #paralympics #haul #haultok #ezrafrech #ilonamaher ♬ original sound – Team USA
Ralph Lauren has designed apparel for Team USA since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the brand has increased its attention to sustainability and ethical practices in recent years. The 2024 Team USA collection includes garments made in the USA with responsible manufacturing processes using materials like recycled polyester and USA-grown Responsible Wool Standard-certified wool.
Sailor Daniela Moroz told Women’s Health that she is excited to wear an iconic American brand at the Olympics and that she particularly likes the American flag sweater. “That’s definitely one of my favorites,” she told the magazine.
IMAGE: RalphLauren.com
If $400 for a sweater isn’t in your budget, the Team USA Shop (by Fanatics) offers an assortment of Nike Villagewear, including tees, hoodies, hats, outerwear and workout wear. The priciest garment in this collection is a gray full-zip jacket at $215, and the site also offers a variety of Team USA-branded hard goods, from stickers, pins and pint glasses under $20 to suitcases, leather satchels, Oakley sunglasses, blankets and (oddly) high-end pet beds.
IMAGE: TeamUSAShop.com
Paris 2024 Mascot Merch
The host city has its own array of collectible merchandise and apparel, including various iterations of the Paris 2024 mascots – squishy red triangles with blue bug eyes, aka the Phryges, modeled after a type of hat popular during the French Revolution. (After all, it wouldn’t be the Olympics without a weird mascot, right?)
“Rather than an animal, our mascots represent an ideal,” Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet said in a statement when they were revealed in 2022. “Since it is familiar to us and appears on our stamps and the pediments of our town halls, it also represents French identity and spirit.”
IMAGE: Olympic Shop
In addition to the plush Phryges, the mascots appear on mugs and tees representing individual sports, like breakdancing, which is new to the Games this year.
IMAGE: Olympic Shop
Ethan Sacks, writing for NBC, says France introduced the first Olympic mascot in 1968, and “designing a mascot that can be a merchandizing draw and as well as publicity for the host country has become more and more important economically.”
Meanwhile, a petition to make Bluey the mascot for the 2032 Brisbane Games in Australia has already garnered thousands of signatures. Even if the national and international Olympic committees give it a green light, they’ll have to ask the BBC, which holds global distribution and merchandising rights.
