In 1980, sales of licensed products worldwide amounted to $10 billion, according to the Licensing Letter, a newsletter.

"They are really positioned to grow," said Karen Raugust, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a trade publication in Brooklyn.

"Retailers are being far more selective because they've gotten burned over the years by the studios," said Ira Mayer, publisher of The Licensing Letter.

All this is music to the ears of Ira Mayer, publisher of The Licensing Letter, a trade publication based in New York.

"I think in the merchandise field, people are very hopeful," said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of The Licensing Letter.

Worldwide annual sales of licensed merchandise rose 1.6 percent last year to a record $103.8 billion, according to The Licensing Letter, published by EPM Communications.

Though teams earn far more from television, licensed products generated $10.5 billion in 2001, according to the Licensing Letter, a trade journal.

Retail sales of all licensed merchandise reached $62.2 billion last year, according to an annual survey by The Licensing Letter, a Brooklyn-based newsletter.

"Licensing is all about creating a perception and leveraging that," said Martin Brochstein, who writes The Licensing Letter, a trade publication.

"There was every reason to be optimistic," said Marty Brochstein, executive editor of The Licensing Letter, a trade publication for the licensing industry.