The Knicks are dunking on The World Cup this summer.
Mania for the New York team is overshadowing FIFA fever at the city’s only Dick’s Sporting Goods location — as b-ball fans are being brought to tears at their inability to get sold out team items, while the soccer gear remains barely touched.
“[Monday] was a madhouse in here,” Dicks rep Yesenia Peña said at the Glendale, Queens store.
“The locker room hats, what they wore when they clinched, we got 300 of them … and within the hour they were sold out.
“I have customers, men, crying,” she added.
Knicks fan Ron Rubino made his own NBA Finals tee shirt purchase Wednesday afternoon – even sporting a shirt from 1999 that he purchased when the Knicks last made the finals, bearing the caption: “I still believe!”
“27 years I’ve waited to get a new one,” the 62-year-old said.
Despite being in one of the most diverse and international areas of the world, the Queens Dicks’ gargantuan World Cup merchandise section — featuring Adidas “away” jerseys for various soccer teams and 2026 FIFA World Cup-branded merch — appear to have been all but forgotten.
“Yeah, the Knicks are selling more,” the store clerk remarked.
The Queens location was one of roughly 20 sites in the tri-state area to reopen to the public at 10 p.m. following Monday’s 130-93 win against the Cavaliers to a line of customers eagerly waiting for a chance to grab orange-and-blue swag.
Despite getting three different shipments from FedEx daily, the merchandise is consistently running low while emotions are running higher than ever, die-hard Knicks fan Peña said.
“We might’ve had, like, 20 people out there [Monday night] waiting to buy this shirt,” Peña said, “because this is what the players wore.”
This historic postseason scramble serves as a test of the e-commerce market’s ability to sling Knicks gear against brick-and-mortar retailers, Sportico first reported.
Since the Knicks’ last NBA Finals game two decades ago, Modell’s Sporting Goods, City Sports and Sports Authority have all gone out of business, the outlet noted.
Other online retailers, like the NBA’s official e-commerce partner Fanatics, may not ship to New York until June.
“We are pushing this product because … you gotta be in the in the now, right?” Peña said. This is what’s happening right now.”
The store has been ransacked of nearly all Knicks menswear, she said, with women’s and kids sizes running “very low.
“They’re emotional,” she said of the fans.
“They come in, and they’re happy,” she said, “and they start talking to strangers because everyone has something in common.”
