The Licensing Letter estimates royalty revenue earned by the major leagues, sports organizations and athletes at $500-$600 million for 2009.

The U.S. sports licensing market is dominated by Major League Baseball, the National Football League, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League. The four leagues in aggregate account for 65% of the U.S./Canada market for licensed sports merchandise; NASCAR represents another 8%.

Apparel, accessories and footwear account for 48% of retail sales of licensed merchandise based on sports properties. The second largest category is videogames, at 14% of the market. However, there are wide discrepancies by sport, with Major League Soccer, for example, attributing 50% of its sales of licensed goods to videogames.

Worldwide, retail sales of sports-based merchandise came to $17.51 billion in 2009, resulting in royalty income to leagues, sports organizations and athletes of $800-$900 million.

The Licensing Letter is a trade publication from EPM Communications, Inc. which tracks trends, data and deal-makers in the business of licensing intellectual property for sale on consumer products including apparel, toys, home furnishings, gifts/novelties and other goods.

The Sports Licensing Report details the licensing strategies for each of the major leagues as well as NASCAR, PGA Tour, Major League Soccer and other organizations. A complete table of contents and brochure about the report are available at www.epmcom.com/sports.

For further information about sports licensing trends contact Ira Mayer, 212-941-1633, ext. 27 or imayer@epmcom.com.