If there’s one upside to summer ending (it feels dirty even saying that), it’s what kicks off tonight: a new NFL season!

In what’s become a tradition over the past several years, the defending champion Steelers will host the Tennessee Titans in a special Thursday game — and there’s little love lost between these two teams. Last year, Tennessee had the NFL’s best regular season record, and during a December win over Pittsburgh they let their distaste for Steel-town be known. Of course, that turned out to be Pittsburgh’s final loss, as they crushed Tennessee in January en route to their sixth Super Bowl win.

But how do the teams stack up on eBay? Well, that’s where the Terapeak NFL Index comes in:

Now, pitting almost any team against Pittsburgh is unfair — they’re one of the most decorated franchises in pro sports, and have long been among the NFL’s top merchandise-sellers. So it should come as no surprise that only the Dallas Cowboys have made more eBay revenue  over the past 30 days, or that Pittsburgh has sold more than twice as many items (17,717) as the next-best-selling AFC team (Miami, with 7,665).

But give the Titans some credit: their average price on eBay ($91.76) is higher than all other 31 NFL teams. (Though only the lowly Bengals have sold fewer items amongst AFC teams.)

Following Dallas and Pittsburgh to round out the Total Sales top 10: Chicago, Minnesota, Green Bay, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore and Cleveland… Not a lot of south on that list, hey?

Just like last year, we’ll be blogging about the index as the season marches on, but save the link for yourself if you’re selling anything sports-related. Also of interest: the Terapeak NHL index… hockey’s just around the corner, too!

It’s that time of year — Super Bowl time! — and no matter whether you’re rooting for the favored Steelers or upstart Cardinals, both teams are looking good in the wide world of eBay. Check out this trend-line for each team’s Total Sold Listings since Christmas Day:

It’s interesting to see how similar both curves are, especially given the striking differences between the two franchises. Not only do the teams contrast each other in playing style — Pittsburgh being defense-minded, Arizona preferring to air it out — but also in terms of market, you’d be hard-pressed to find two that are more different. For decades Arizona has been the butt of NFL jokes, having relocated multiple times, rarely gracing a national stage. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, with its five Super Bowl victories, has long been one of sport’s most storied franchises — and consistently the second-most popular on eBay.

If you’ve invested as an eBay seller in either team’s playoff run, it’s likely you’ve been well-rewarded by merch-hungry fans. Check out these sales trends for playmakers on both teams — Pittsburgh wild-man Troy Polamalu, and Arizona’s record-setting wideout Larry Fitzgerald:

Finally, take another look at Terapeak’s NFL sales index, which we released last summer. If anyone had said back then that, come January, the Cardinals would be ranked #1 in Total Sales and #4 in Items Sold (ahead of both the Packers and Redskins) — well, let’s just say they’d be laughed off the field.

Enjoy the game!

It’s been a month today since we launched our NFL on eBay index, and already it’s been a remarkable season — from league-changing injuries, to historic coach-firings, to undefeated teams led by unlikely quarterbacks.

Within the index itself, we’ve seen some notable movement — the Jets, for example, were leading the AFC in total sales at the start of the year, but that was on the heels of Brett Favre’s arrival; they’ve since fallen behind Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Still in the AFC East, not only were the Patriots destroyed by the Dolphins in Week 3, they’ve been surpassed by their rivals in total items sold. And finally, in the NFC’s most competitive division, the Eagles have surged from last place to second in two out of three categories — with no hope, of course, of ever catching the Cowboys.

You can view the index at http://www.terapeak.com/nfl, and a link to the bloggable widget (shown above) to the right of the magnifying glass.

We hope you’re enjoying the season!