Live from the Licensing Show: Licensing, Royalty Revenues Up

Licensing grew 4% in 2002, generating $5.8 billion in royalty revenues from manufacturers who paid for the right to use trademarks, characters, logos and artwork to sell products in the U.S.

"Growth is the key word in almost every category," said Charles Riotto, president of the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA). "The power of licensing is showing its muscle economically and licensing is providing brands with a low-risk way of creating awareness and generating sales."

Leading the pack is entertainment/character licensing, which accounts for 44% of the overall industry and generated $2.6 billion in royalties in the past year. The category also saw the greatest royalty revenue growth at 3.9% or $96 million. "Entertainment brands discovered licensing years ago and now other categories are catching on," Riotto said.

Meanwhile, corporate brands/trademarks—the second largest single category of licensed product with 20% of market share-brought in just over $1 billion in 2002 and saw revenue growth of 8% or $77 million over 2001.

Fashion ranked third with 15% of the market share, generating $892 million in 2002. However, revenue in the fashion category fell off 2.1% from 2001.

The categories showing the largest percent of growth are art (9.5%), trademark/brands (8%), sports (7.9%) and publishing (7.1%).

More than 19,000 attendees were expected at this week's show, which featured 425 exhibitors.