Eyes on the Prize

The domestic soccer business – women’s and men’s – readies for a big 2010

No conversation about the state of soccer this year would be complete without touching on the potential impact of this summer's World Cup, to be held in South Africa.

Toby Rappolt, owner of Sunset Soccer Supply, a shop that has two locations in Northern California, certainly expects the World Cup this summer to positively impact his business, both on the boys’ and girls’ sides. “Every World Cup or European Championships the sales of national team replica jerseys increase significantly,” he says.
Dealers expect the most significant impact to take place during the tournament in June and July, but also in the months leading up to it this Spring.

“It greatly impacts our business because this is our Super Bowl and unfortunately it only comes around every four years instead of every year,” says Derek Helmer of Stefan's Soccer, a soccer retailer with four locations in Wisconsin.

“Although only for a short period of time, the World Cup puts soccer in the spotlight. We’ve been sold out of U.S. National Team jerseys since before Christmas. The World Cup also gives us a chance to attract the casual soccer fan that might not ordinarily come into our stores if the World Cup was not happening.”

Increased expectations for the U.S. team are helping to fuel the hype and anticipation.
Lucas Abbott of Upper 90 Soccer + Sport, a soccer specialty shop on Manhattan's Upper West Side, agrees. “The World Cup is a big deal and we are in the process of working some big marketing projects to embrace that time.”

Upper 90, which opened this past fall, already has a bustling team business. The owners targeted this area of Manhattan as one historically lacking in a specialty soccer store serving the family-oriented neighborhood. It is also positioned in a market filled with international soccer fans.

“We are a full-service retail shop and we also do a good amount of team business,” says Abbott. The shop has a computerized press system in the back and two heat presses. The store, with a young and modern feel, is carpeted throughout with artificial turf and also has a lounge area in the back and a flat screen TV, where soccer games are played on the TV all day long.

As far as key trends driving the women's business and the soccer business overall, key brands, new technologies, price and the economy are all factors mentioned.

At Upper 90, the footwear selection includes seven or eight styles of women's-specific shoes and cleats. The store also includes sports bras in its women's-specific apparel offerings.
It’s no secret that Adidas and Nike are the big two when it comes to soccer brands for both girls and boys, and as Helmer puts it, “no other brand is making headway.”

In footwear trends, the more flashy and flamboyant a shoe looks, the better it sells, according to Helmer. “Neon green, bright yellow, orange – Nike Vapors, Nike CTR 360, Adidas F50s and Predators – have all been very popular. Additionally, whatever players like Drogba, Ronaldo, Messi, Donovan wear, becomes very popular.”

As for his women’s business in particular, Rappolt notes that “more female customers are asking for uniforms cut specifically for women.”



Adidas Maps Women’s Bodies

This spring/summer, with the CLIMA365 range
Adidas unveils a unique technology focusing in particular on women’s body temperature regulation. The BodyMapping technology defines female-specific heat and sweat zones in order to place fabrics directly where they are needed the most.

Whether playing soccer or training outdoors, when it comes to endurance training the most important factor is temperature regulation. In collaboration with the University of Loughborough, the Adidas innovation team measured heat and sweat production of men and women after exercise using thermography. The result: The ability to highlight the importance of gender differences.

“Our gender-specific bodymaps are an industry-leading tool showing the significant differences between men and women during exercise. Men and women sweat differently; bodies get warmer and cooler differently,” says Bob Monahan, senior designer of the Adidas innovation team.

In contrast to a man’s body, the female body maps show that most women’s heat zones are the center of the back as well as the calves, whereas women’s core sweat zone is the midpoint beneath the breast and lower back. These gender-specific results are combined into one single map, indicating the different functionalities that are needed in each zone to facilitate evaporation, conduction or wicking. Based on these results, fabrics can be placed specifically to deliver optimized function to designated areas of the body.

The CLIMA365 collection introduces the BodyMapping technology and focuses especially on the sweat zones of a woman’s body. By placing wicking materials in the area below the breasts and lower back, maximum comfort can be ensured since this will keep women dry without sacrificing potential heat loss.

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