Personal watercraft (PWCs) are not on many property owners’ licensee lists. But those licensors that are active in the category are a surprisingly diverse group, encompassing luxury brands, athletes and musicians, fashion labels, and even entertainment IPs: This week, Bombadier Recreational Products’ Sea-Doo announced that it was partnering with the late Formula 1 driver Ayrton […]
Archive | Sporting goods
Pickleball: More Players, More Products
Pickleball participation increased 56% in 2024, according to the National Sporting Goods Association, marking the third year in a row that the sport has seen annual growth of 50% or more. While the number of new pickleball-related licensed product initiatives seems to have died down a bit compared to earlier in the sport’s short lifespan […]
Court Craze Continues
Summer is peak season for pickleball, and the newly popular sport—which was invented in 1965—continues to gain strength as the fastest-growing participation sport in the U.S. It follows that commercial partnerships centered on the activity remain top of mind as well, from sponsorships and promotions, to logoed paddles, to designer-driven pickleball collections featuring apparel, footwear, […]
A Little Pizzazz on the Pickleball Court
Pickleball, still relatively new on the scene as a mainstream participant sport, continues to grow in popularity with players of all ages. As a result, properties of nearly every type have lent their names, logos, and other assets to pickleball apparel, accessories, footwear, and especially paddles and paddle covers over the past few years. Recently, […]
Hitting the Bullseye
Darts is an activity that has attracted growing interest over the past few years, both in participation and viewership. Increased demand for products such as signature and branded darts, dartboards, jerseys, and flights (the plastic or nylon stabilizers on the darts) has followed, with rights mostly granted to specialist licensees. The game of darts was […]
Bulking Up
Recently, a number of celebrities and brands have announced initiatives (licensed and otherwise) centered on heavy-duty strength-training and fitness equipment such as stationary bikes, treadmills, squat racks, weight benches, and barbells. Licensing deals occur fairly frequently in the fitness equipment space, but are typically focused on light-weight tools such as yoga mats, handheld dumbbells, ankle […]
Hitting the Slopes in Style
Skiwear collections have become regular occurrences for designers on the luxury end of the spectrum each fall. More drops of technical and fashion-forward ski apparel, including many collaborations, are introduced each year, and past partners tend to reprise their efforts with new designs annually. Examples for 2023 involve a variety of labels: Dior is offering […]
E-Bike Partnerships Accelerate
The e-bike market is growing at a fast pace, propelled in large part by consumer and corporate interest in sustainability. Fortune Business Analysis, as reported by Inside EVs, estimates that the global market will increase from $37.47 billion in 2022 to an expected $43.32 billion in 2023, translating to annual growth of 15.61%. By 2030, […]
Up a Creek Without a Padel
Pickleball has been one of the fastest-rising sports—in participation and licensing interest—in the last couple of years. But another up-and-coming racket sport, padel, is emerging in mainstream popularity and seems to have similar potential to pickleball. Padel, played with four people per team, is described as a cross between tennis and squash. It takes place […]
Pickleballing in Style
When we last covered pickleball, in 2019, it was just emerging as a licensing opportunity, with a number of leagues, governing bodies, collegiate teams, and sponsors signing their first licensing and endorsement deals. With pickleball continuing as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., with average annual increases of 11.5% in participants over the past five […]