Finding out the top jersey seller is a big deal in the NBA and other sporting leagues around the world.
With player names and numbers on the back of retail kits, the NBA can track exactly who the most popular figures are in their league each season.
Plenty of things play into jersey sales, whether that’s the size of the market a player plays in, how exciting a player is, how much they appeal to kids and where players hail from among other factors.
In the AFL, guernseys aren’t traditionally sold with numbers on the back but fans often get their favourite player’s digits heat pressed on.
While there isn’t an official tracker in the AFL as there is in the NBA, former Cat and Swan Dan Menzel tried to predict who he thinks would finish in the top seven for the 2024 AFL season.
These players all have genuine star power and all appeal to the younger generation of fans who of course most love wearing AFL guernseys.
Check out his top seven below.
7 – Harley Reid (West Coast)
“At number seven, I'm going to go with Harley Reid from West Coast,” Menzel said on SEN Sportsday SA.
“The number one draft pick. No one has his West Coast guernsey before the start of this season.
“If he comes out and he plays to the level where recruiters had touted him to play too, people will buy his guernsey and he'll be the number one West Coast selling guernsey by a long way.
“That's why I've gone Harley Reid at number seven.”
6 – Connor Rozee (Port Adelaide)
“At number six, I've gone with the new number 1 at Port Adelaide, captain Connor Rozee.
“I threw up Butters, I threw up a few other players, but I think Connor will be the most popular player and he's a skipper this year for the first time.
5 – Izak Rankine (Adelaide)
“At number five I’ve got Izak Rankine.
“Maybe I'm high on him, but I think he's going to have an incredible season.
“I don't know if there's that many Izak Rankine guernseys currently out there.
“There’s a big fan base here in Adelaide, I think that if he has a season that some people think he will have, then they are going to sell out of his guernseys here in Adelaide.”
4 – Marcus Bontempelli (Western Bulldogs)
“At number four I'm going to go with who should be this year's Brownlow Medallist, but he just will probably fall short again like he does every single year and that's Marcus Bontempelli.
“He's carried that team for a long time. There will be plenty of number four guernsey out there for the Bulldogs, but they do make a lot of retro and different guernseys.
“I think that that will still sell very well.”
3 – Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
“I've gone Christian Petracca at number three.
“He’s another that could win the Brownlow this year. He's a popular player.
“He's probably getting a few more fans from his TikTok when it comes to his cooking page.
“I think a few others might buy the Melbourne Christian Petracca guernsey.”
2 – Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
“Number two is Charlie Curnow from Carlton.
“If he wins the Coleman again … we know how up and about Carlton fans are and they will believe that they can win it all this year.
“I think that he has gone past Patrick Cripps at Carlton. I've got him at number two on the sale list.”
1 – Nick Daicos (Collingwood)
“I'll be shocked if this guy's not the number one selling guernsey in the AFL in 2024.
“It is Nick Daicos, you talk about a fan base, they (Collingwood) have the biggest in Australia.
“He should have won a Brownlow, but he got injured, he could easily win it this year.
“There will be plenty of Nick Daicos guernseys bought and he will be the number one selling AFL guernsey in 2024.”
