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| Mon, Nov. 30 - - Mobile - RSS | |
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SUPER BOLD: Stores bank on BIG GAME TV sales
Survey says Super Bowl HDTV sales could turn out to be a super bust
Date published: 1/28/2006
By MICHAEL ZITZ As the Super Bowl approaches, the consumer electronics industry is banking on people like Bobby Simmons Sr. of Stafford Lakes. The week before the big game is traditionally a time when sports fans go out and buy new TV sets for parties in their homes. Simmons, a 40-year-old former professional baseball player who now works in network support for a Springfield company, didn't wait until the last minute. He's turned his basement into a "sports bar" to have friends over and watch ball games year-round. He made the bar with his own hands. And he also fashioned a "scoreboard" with pictures of himself and 5-year-old son Bobby Jr., both in baseball uniforms as boys. Simmons, who currently plays for the Fredericksburg-based semipro Meadows Farms Baseball Club, said he rarely drinks a beer, but wanted to set up his "sports bar" to watch ball games with baseball buddies and with his young son. He has seven TVs in the mix. There's a wall-sized, 110-inch projection high definition TV. There are two smaller flat-screen HDTVs, and another TV that's an 80-incher.
"I didn't really spend that much money," Simmons said. "I did all the work myself, and I got good deals on the TVs." According to the Consumer Electronics Association in Arlington nearly 60 percent of high-definition television owners consider themselves sports fans. Consumer electronics industry insiders fully expect TV sales to jump next week as they always do right before the Super Bowl. According to a survey conducted for the National Retail Federation in Washington, consumers expect to buy 1.7 million new televisions prior to the game, up from 1.4 million in 2005. "Retailers look forward to the Super Bowl every year, knowing that it means big business," Phil Rist, vice president of strategy for BIGresearch, which conducted the survey, said in a statement. He said home electronics are a huge part of that. But there are some concerns about whether that will translate into strong HDTV sales, in spite of brave talk.
Date published: 1/28/2006
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