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 […]
Archive | Sports
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, […]
On the Sidelines
Celebrities who are closely connected to the pro and college sports industry—but not current athletes—have been increasingly lending their names to consumer product lines, either through licensing or their own companies. Their areas of expertise vary: Fantasy sports. Matthew Berry, ESPN’s senior fantasy sports analyst, retained The Wildflower Group in 2016 to handle licensing for […]
Forever Young
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 […]
The Far Reach of Fanatics
Earlier this month, Fanatics revealed that it was purchasing VF Corporation’s sports business, which includes Majestic Athletic, a leading licensee of the U.S. pro sports leagues. This is just the latest step in the company’s continuing march toward sports-licensing domination over the past couple of years, and it seems like a good opportunity to take […]
The New Spectator Sports
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 […]