Redskins merchandising dips sharply

Is the controversy over the Washington Redskins' name starting to have an impact at retail?

No NFL team has seen a sharper drop in year-over-year merchandise sales in the past year than the Redskins. That's according to data from market tracking firm SportsOneSource.

Through August, Redskins sales were down 43.8 percent, the firm's numbers show, beating out slides from other teams that failed to make the playoffs last year, including the Ravens (34.5 percent), Texans (32.8 percent), Giants (25.5 percent), Vikings (25.1 percent) and Falcons (20.1 percent).

But how much the Redskins really have fallen and what exactly that can be attributed to is debatable.

Data from NFLShop.com, the league's official store, shows that the Redskins were the 12th-most-popular team in sales last year and are at the same position this year. And two retailers told ESPN.com that they believe almost the entire slide is due to coming off a 3-13 season and quarterback Robert Griffin IIIfalling out of prominence.

In the 2012-13 season, Griffin sold more jerseys in a season that anyone in NFL history. From April through August of this year, he didn't even make the list of the league's 25 best-selling jerseys.