QVC kicks off with NFL via GSI

QVC Inc., the National Football League and GSI Commerce Inc. have allied to create a multi-channel marketing opportunity for NFL-licensed products.

QVC, No. 14 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, now is the NFL’s official television retailer and will host NFL-themed shows as part of its programming line-up. The QVC programming will begin at the start of the 2007 football season and include the playoffs and Super Bowl.

As part of the agreement, e-commerce technology vendor GSI Commerce, which operates NFLShop.com, now is the exclusive provider of NFL-licensed merchandise to QVC. GSI’s distribution network will fulfill product orders received from purchases generated from QVC’s telecasts and through QVC’s e-commerce site.

Further, QVC will launch an NFL Shop on QVC.com this summer. The online shop will be supplied and fulfilled by GSI. The National Football League’s web store is No. 142 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

“This opportunity was born out of the successful e-commerce partnerships we established with both QVC and the NFL,” says Michael G. Rubin, chairman, president and CEO of GSI Commerce. “We are excited to have this new venture result from our partners leveraging relationships we have within our partner network.”