Almost a half dozen new licensing agencies have formed in the last few months, many headed by big names in the licensing business who have recently left corporate positions with major property owners. Each claims a distinct positioning within the market: Last week, Robert Marick, most recently head of consumer products at MGM Studios, a […]
Tag Archives | REP Worldwide
Pay for Play
A number of recent developments are blurring the lines between amateur and pro sports, both at the collegiate and Olympic levels. If the trend continues, it may open significant opportunities for the licensing community. California enacted the Fair Pay to Play Act, which allows college athletes to receive money for endorsements without jeopardizing their scholarships […]
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Licensing has become more data-driven over time, as the tools used to analyze sales and other information at a granular level improve, giving licensors and licensees insights into what is working and not working and enhancing the ability to tweak strategies quickly. Licensing executives have also increasingly been enhancing sales history with other more forward-looking […]
Going for the Win
Deals announced in summer and fall 2019 illustrate some of the key current trends in the sports licensing business: Rising activity around women’s sports. The English Netball League, a 90-plus-year-old women’s sports entity, signed a deal with British retailer Oasis for a range of apparel, with players Ama Agbze, Eboni Usoro-Brown, and Jade Clarke appearing […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]