San Diego, California
The Ledger
1 August 2026
CPO results land in August and pinning follows in September, which gives a command a matter of weeks to get gear designed, printed and shipped without anyone fronting money.
Families are most willing to buy in the week they register, which is usually months before a league gets its store open, and the gap is the whole problem.
Fall ball registration always produces one volunteer running a merch operation out of her garage. A real team store removes the job instead of reassigning it.
Made-to-order merch has a real December cutoff, and working backward from Christmas through shipping, production and design approval puts it earlier than most people assume.
