The U.S. sports licensing landscape is expanding, incrementally, with the launch or expansion of new merchandise programs tied to professional sports leagues beyond the “big five” of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer. Property owners—mostly brand-new leagues—that have recently introduced licensing and/or sponsorship initiatives […]
Archive | Sports
Hat Trick
Athletes playing on professional sports teams have increasingly entered the men’s apparel market, especially through collaborations, proprietary brands, and direct-to-retail deals. These have included players known for their careers in football (e.g., Russell Wilson with his Good Man brand), baseball (Mo Vaughn with his MVP Collections), basketball (Russell Westbrook with his ongoing capsules at Barney’s […]
Revving Up For Rugby
As fan anticipation builds globally for the next Rugby World Cup, to be held in Japan in fall 2019, several licensing, sponsorship, and representation deals involving the sport, in its various forms, have come to light in the past few months. Among them: World Rugby and IMG named Canterbury, which outfits a number of national […]
World Cup Couture
With the finals of the FIFA World Cup coming up this Sunday, pitting France against Croatia, it seems like a good time to look at the impact of the competition on the world of high fashion, officially licensed and otherwise. Here are some of the strategies involving fashion labels, designers, sports licensors, and retailers trying […]
Tennis Players Ace Off-Court Fashion
Summer in the northern hemisphere is the season for many of the major global tennis tournaments, including the French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon. It is also a key time for new product announcements involving well-known players, who have long been active in lending their names to fashion lines beyond their on-court endorsement deals. Tennis […]
Believing in the Beautiful Game
With the 2018 FIFA World Cup coming up this summer in Russia, it seems like a good time to take a look at the growing number of football-inspired lifestyle labels on the market, many of which are linked to licensing in some way. These are apparel and accessories brands that capture the sensibility of the […]
Suiting Up
A trend in celebrity and sports licensing over the past several years has consisted of current and former pro athletes from the four major U.S. sports leagues individually introducing their personal brands into higher-end menswear and underwear programs. Athletes from outside the four major leagues, some active and some retired, are following suit, both globally […]
Athletes Offer Celebrity-Licensing Insights
The week before the Super Bowl in early February, the NFL Players Association and its partners in the OneTeam Collective incubator program hosted an educational panel of athletes and licensees who spoke about celebrity participation in licensing, endorsements, and other forms of partnership. The event was part of OneTeam Collective’s second annual Pitch Day, where […]
Shopping the Super Bowl
American football fans are gearing up for the Super Bowl this weekend. Not surprisingly, the NFL, the local organizing committee, and retailers across the Twin Cities—this year’s host site, U.S. Bank Stadium, is located in Minneapolis—are highlighting Super Bowl LII merchandise. Their activities provide a good illustration of what big-event licensing programs look like. The […]
Watching Women’s Sports
Sales of licensed products tied to women’s pro sports have always been a fraction of what men’s leagues, teams, players associations, and events bring in. That remains true today. But there have been signals over the past couple of years that this still-small sector may be poised for expansion: In November, the NFL Players Association, […]