By Matt Gephardt (KUTV) When a team loses a championship game, what happens to the hats and shirts that never make it to the fans?

If you watch any championship sporting event, then you know - the minute the winning team wins, they have hats and shirts with their teams logo on it, declaring them champions.

That means there's a big box of stuff declaring the losing team champion. So what happens to all those hats and shirts?

Just this week, the Oklahoma City Thunder were doing post game interviews adorning their brand-new western conference championship hats - before the players had even cooled down.

The gear was clearly printed before they ever won.

It's a common marketing tool used by all the major sports leagues to get people to open their wallets while the joy of their teams win is still fresh in their minds.

But, for every winning team, there is obviously a losing team - and a lot of unusable shirts and hats.

The answer is charity - but not just any charity.

The items are donated to "World Vision" which primarily work in very poor African Countries.

The idea is to get the merchandise into the hands of needy people, but in places where it will likely never show up on American soil.

And, when you think about it, there's another silver lining: in some remote parts of the world the 1997 Utah Jazz are the champs.

(Copyright 2012 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)
Good Question: Leftover Championship Merchandise