Several niche spectator sports are starting to emerge as commercially viable and increasingly mainstream, and a few have attracted licensing deals. The pastimes, and their associated products, tend to appeal largely to millennials, with their fan bases often, but not always, skewing male.
Some are global athletic competitions, supported by sponsors, TV coverage, and other elements associated with competitive sports. USA Ultimate and Major League Ultimate are among the organizations overseeing Ultimate disc competitions (formerly known as Ultimate Frisbee). They have authorized licensed apparel and other gear related to the sport. USA Ultimate’s licensees, for example, include VC Ultimate, Spin Ultimate, Savage, and Breakmark, among others. Many of these specialist companies are also affiliated with other Ultimate leagues and governing bodies. Competitors such as Brodie Smith have also gained fame; Disc Store sells Smith signature discs and gloves.
Both CrossFit and Grid oversee competitive leagues and events tied to their sports. Grid is described as a co-ed competition involving a variety of “superhuman” sports. The National Pro Grid League, which has eight teams, works with licensees including its official apparel partner, Hylete.
Some of the emerging “sports” properties are certainly competitive, but are not based in athletics. Drone racing, for example, is becoming increasingly mainstream, as indicated by the Drone Racing League recently announcing U.S. and international broadcast partners, with ESPN among them. Spin Master’s Air Hogs brand has a line of DR1 Racing League-licensed drones, which are endorsed by celebrity racers Luke Bannister and Johnny Schaer.
Governing bodies for competitive pool include the Billiards Congress of America and the USA Pool League, both of which include Ultimate Team Gear among their official partners for apparel and other pool-related merchandise. And, of course, competitive videogaming, or e-sports, has seen its leagues, teams, and players attract licensees such as Jinx over the last year or so.
Some rising spectator sports are not competitive but have garnered significant audiences on YouTube. A number of trick shot specialists have attracted fame this way, for example, including the five men known as Dude Perfect, who partnered with Hasbro for a collection of Nerf yard toys, launched in spring 2016.
Competitive sports rooted in fiction—often tied to licensed IP, although most of the leagues are not officially affiliated with the licensor—have also taken hold. Organizations such as LudoSport International run lightsaber combat and lightsaber choreography competitions, while Lightsaber Academy trains fans in “the art of lightsaber combat.” Both are inspired by Star Wars but not licensed by Disney/Lucasfilm. A Singapore company called Sabermach creates Fightsabers, usable lightsabers of its own design that are reminiscent of, but not exactly like, the original and are specifically intended for combat dueling. They are not licensed products.
Finally, quidditch, the game portrayed in the Harry Potter series, has inspired global competitions—including a World Cup overseen by the International Quidditch Association—as well as club and campus teams and games at comic cons. Some team and league merchandise is available for sale. DFTBA (Don’t Forget to Be Awesome), which specializes in selling merchandise tied to YouTube creators, markets t-shirts and other merchandise for US Quidditch, the national governing body.
Of course, Warner Bros. also has a roster of licensees marketing quidditch-related licensed products, mainly of the collectible sort, including jerseys, posters, ball sets, goggles, and helmets.
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