Team Insight - July, 2009
Put Up or Schutt Up
A mandate by Schutt calling for helmet exclusivity is putting team dealers in the middle of a category battle, and they aren’t very happy about it. Most feel it is a dispute that could have been avoided.
One of the most intense battles in team sports isn’t even playing out on the football field, but rather in backroom offices throughout the country. It stems from a controversial decision by Schutt Sports Group to draw a line in the sand among its top...
Driving the Lane
Year-round sales and a passionate player base make hoops an easy shot for team dealers looking to score.
It may not be the biggest of the team sports in sales – too little equipment, lower-priced uniforms, big-ticket items sold through other channels – but basketball still ranks as number one in participation numbers in the U.S., eclipsing its closest c...
Uniform Approach
Basketball uniform and warmup success for 2009/10 is a three-point play focused on durability, style and availability for dealers.
Uniform suppliers are certainly conscious of current economic conditions and the impact on budgets at all levels. They are continuing to add to their stock offerings while adding more economical custom packages. “All school budgets are under atta...
Waiting Game
With the economic outlook still uncertain, team dealers are managing to hold their own in baseball and softball in 2009. But will they have to don their rally caps for the 2010 season?
Is the economy’s bark worse than its bite? That’s a tough question for team dealers to answer, especially as they begin to get a read on final results for the 2009 baseball and softball seasons. Consider the case of Tuffy Brooks Sports in Dayton, OH...
Training Aids
Providing an Edge
Rapid Fire Practice The new SKLZ Rapid-Fire Multi-Function Made-and-Miss Basketball Return is arguably the most convenient and effective return system to give players an easy way to practice shooting repetitively from anywhere on the court. Th...
Still On Top
Fashion continues to meet function in the world of team sports caps, as moisture management and improved fit work hand-in-hand with trendy colors and patterns.
Performance from Pacific for 2010 The Pacific Headwear NINE50 Diamond Series is an authentic Major League profile cap with functionally evolved poly-wool performance fabric with fiber-tech visor board. This fabric has the look and feel of wool...
Decorating On Demand
You want it when? Dealers are being forced to work on ever-tighter schedules to meet demand, while their key equipment and materials vendors are pushing to make sure that fashion keeps up with function. During it all, sublimation really makes a move.
Team dealers are busy balancing the desires of design-savvy athletes against the limitations of tightening budgets, and the reality of trim inventories and ever-shrinking delivery schedules. The challenge is in balancing all of these demands and stil...
Hot and Cold
The emerging sports medicine category of ‘muscle therapy’ products opens up a new sales avenue for dealers looking for that something extra to make their sports medicine sales feel better.
The picture is familiar — a pitcher sits in the dugout with the ice pack on his arm after his day on the mound is done. And then there is nothing like the feeling of a warm pad on aching muscles after a long day on the field. But have you ever stop...
Thinking Inside the Bag
Decorating, sport-specific designs and availability – along with lots of pockets and some nice colors – are driving the sport bag business in 2009. The annual Team Insight Sport Bag Vendor Roundtable provides dealers with the insight into how and
At The Table … Phil Steele, president, Athletic Bag Company (Ryno Athletic and Amerisport divisions), Tyler, TX Chad Trollinger, director of marketing, Augusta Sportswear, Augusta, GA Anna Amador, head of product, and Dave Barr, national ind...
Summertime Blues
It is summertime and team dealers are feeling blue. Why? Because despite some encouraging recent signs of recovery, for dealers across America the real impact of today’s sad economic conditions are really being felt right about now as schools finaliz...
The Rules, They are A-Changin
SGMA, NFHS and NCAA convene to discuss proposed changes in regulations for football, soccer and baseball, among other sports. The results will significantly impact team dealers and vendors in coming seasons.
The concerns of sporting goods manufacturers regarding proposed high school and collegiate rules changes and the desire of association officials for greater safety and control of product performance came face-to-face at a recent conclave of the SGMA,...
Corner Kicks
Under Armour Gives The Boot In one of the most highly anticipated soccer product introductions of the year, this spring Under Armour unveiled a new soccer boot collection being sold at soccer specialty retail stores. True to the UA way of doing thin...
Sports, Inc. Funding a ‘Chance’
Since 1997, Sports, Inc. has invested more than $430,000 through its membership across the United States to fund sports-related facilities and programs. The funding program, which is called the “Sporting Chance Award,” is given each year to two Sport...
End Zone
Sports Belle Files for Bankruptcy In the one of the first and perhaps most telling signs of the times in team sports, uniform supplier Sports Belle filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in early June. The filing com...
|
|
Click Here for the 2009 BRAND Book
|
