Indy business cashing in on bittersweet Saints win

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Reebok printing plant on the east side of Indianapolis is busy producing Saints stuff about 7,000 T-shirts an hour. That's not how it was supposed to be.

Vicki Dinterman, a Reebok employee said, "It's like a slow death. I want the shirts to come out horrible but I need them to come out perfectly so."

There weren't many smiles that could be found at the plant Monday; this is Colts country after all. When all is said and done hundreds of thousands of New Orleans Saints Super Bowl Champ T-shirts and sweatshirts will be printed.

"No I think a lot of people are disappointed in here but you know we're in here doing what we're supposed to do and we'll get all of the Saints things produced and they should be very happy that we're going to do it for them," said William Spight, a Reebok employee.

The bright spot about the Saints win is the business it's generating for the east side facility in Indianapolis. It's the main site for licensed NFL gear and demand for Saints is are at least four times greater than Colts and it's not just for the Louisiana area.

Joe Cripe, Vice President of Operations for Sports Licensed Division explained, "It runs everywhere from East Texas all the way over to the Florida panhandle and the nation has actually embraced the Saints team ever since Katrina. It's a great story."

At least 50 different designs were pre-approved by both teams.

Cripe said, "We were ready for both designs and we actually thought it might bring the Colts good luck if we set our presses up in advance with Colts screens. Unfortunately when the game was over we had to tear down the screens and replace them with Saints screens."

Since Sunday's Super Bowl ended the machines at the Reebok printing plant have been going 24/7. It's expected to continue through the week to fill orders for everyone wanting a piece of the first time champions.