DAYTON, Ohio — It's the day after the Cincinnati Bengals became the AFC Champions. What do fans do next? Buy an AFC Champions t-shirt, of course.
"This will be a hot item," said Bob Thomas, vice president of operations for Titan Graphics in Dayton, Ohio.
Staffers worked through the night to print more than 10,000 Cincinnati Bengals AFC Champion t-shirts so that they could be on Tri-State store shelves when their doors opened Monday morning.
Thomas said the shirts are in high demand because they have the same graphic design as the shirts given to the Bengals players after winning the AFC Championship against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night. The company has been contacted by major vendors to print shirts following other big games, like the World Series and college playoff games.
This contract was different. Many of the workers were Bengals fans.
"Of course, the game went into overtime and that's just agony for us because we wanted so bad to start printing right away. So, we had to wait," Thomas said.
"But that was well worth waiting for because they ended up winning the game. And, it was just elation around here. Everybody was so excited, whooping and hollering. And we were glad to start printing," he added.
The graphic is created from multiple colors: white, red, blue - and of course - orange and black, laid on a slate gray shirt.
Meanwhile, shirts were available online and in some stores like Dick's Sporting Goods as soon as Monday morning. However, quantities are limited.
Thomas said he is ready to print more shirts if necessary.
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