Earlier this year, Pop Warner Little Scholars named Ignite 2X as its agent for Pop Warner sports, fan, and lifestyle products in all categories. The organization, which focuses on youth football and cheer/dance and offers various scholastic programs, plans products ranging from apparel, school supplies, toys, and collectibles, to home accents and electronic games. The organization has been involved in cross-licensing programs with the NFL Players Association for co-branded goods featuring current NFL athletes.
Meanwhile, in August of 2016, Little League Baseball and Softball, a Pop Warner equivalent for those sports, signed a deal with WaxWorks’ Team Marketing division for school supplies, toys and games, personal accessories, and a few clothing items. Team Marketing also has rights to assist in the distribution of several other licensees’ products. Fermata Partners, Little League’s agent since August 2013, did the deal. One of Little League’s notable licensees is New Era, which creates caps for the Little League brand and the Little League World Series, including co-branded versions with Major League Baseball teams.
The broad, retail-based licensing programs that Pop Warner and Little League are overseeing are unusual in the world of youth sports, where most governing bodies partner with a supplier and/or retail chain to create localized uniforms and equipment, as well as fan merchandise. The customer base consists primarily of teams and athletes, and their supporters (mainly parents), across the country.
Through deals such as these, local youth athletes and teams source their gear from the licensee, either online or through a nearby retail location. Licensees operating in this arena include Sator Sports, which works with AYSO (the American Youth Soccer Organization); Eastbay Team Sales, which has a relationship with AAU (Amateur Athletic Union); and Dick’s Team Sports HQ, which supplies U.S. Youth Soccer, PONY Baseball and Softball, and the National Police Athletic League (PAL), among others.
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