The effect of American success in South Africa is rippling through sporting goods stores over 4,000 miles away, as sales of World Cup merchandise in the U.S. have skyrocketed. Team USA’s advancing to the second round—it will face Ghana Saturday afternoon—has had a large part to play. "Normally there's an attitude among certain soccer players—Americans—where they act like they don't like the U.S. teams because they're not as good," said one Maryland store owner who sold out of Team USA jerseys three weeks ago. Last week, sales of World Cup merchandise in the U.S. amounted to $7 million—three times the previous week’s total. Still, it hardly compares with the merchandising power of other sports in the U.S. During the last week of the NBA finals, sales of NBA gear totaled $15 million. And although World Cup sales are currently at $35 million, that's nothing compared to last year’s bottom line for NFL merchandise: $2.5 billion.
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