SPORTING BEANIES
There are quite a few sporting Beanies out there. The most hard to find are those that are handed out as a promotional item at a sporting event. There are also a good few sporting themed Beanies.
The promotional hand-out Beanies come in two categories. Those created especially for the game day and those that are already in existence. In the late 1990s when the Beanie craze was at its height current Beanies were often used. In 1998 25 out of the 30 MLB teams held Beanie giveaways! By the new millennium the Beanie world had become more sedate. This has led to the game day exclusives being much more, well, exclusive.
In 2002 Ty Europe became sponsors of their local football team Portsmouth. To celebrate the occasion an exclusive Beanie Pompey was introduced. He was to be followed in 2003 by Premier and in 2004 by P.F.C. That will be the last Ty Bear for Portsmouth football club as the sponsorship deal was ended in 2005.
It is impossible to mention sporting Beanies without mentioning Champion the World Cup Beanie. There were 32 bears released, one for each participating country! Champion was succeed four years later at the 2006 World Cup by a quartet of European Exclusives.
The last few sporting beanies are
those with a sporting theme. At the time of writing these are Kicks the
Soccer Bear, Shortstop the Bear, Blitz the Bear, Sweeper the Bear, Hoops
the Bear, golfing Beanies ChariTee and Tour Teddy, and tennis bears Smash and
Feder-Bear.
Ball-Park Beanies
Ty Europe and Portsmouth FC
Champion the World Cup Bear
