Team Insight - January, 2007
The End Zone
NBS Gets Scientific Nation’s Best Sports is spearheading a national campaign to help enrich the science education of children across the U.S. by partnering with Camp Invention, a program of the nonprofit National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation,...
Five (Actually, Six) Predictions for 2007
I have always loved the start of a new year, as the calendar turns to a new page, the past 12 months are on the books and a (relatively) clean slate awaits the challenges of 2007. With that in mind, I am going out on the limb with my five predictions...
There's A New Bat In Town
Timing has been everything for Jorge Medina. Sensing a need for something a little bit different in the traditional baseball bat business, three years ago Medina formed a company called Controlling The Game (CTG) whose goal was to shake up what has a...
A Tangled Webb In Bag Business
When Connie Mack named Howard Ehmke his starter for Game 1 of the 1929 World Series, most in the baseball world thought the Philadelphia skipper had made one of the biggest mistakes of his managerial career. At the age of 35, Ehmke, a soft-throwing c...
Under Armour Founder Named Top Entrepreneur
Sporting goods retailers and team dealers have been heaping praise on him for years, and now it looks as if corporate America has caught on to the contributions Under Armour founder Kevin Plank has made in the world of sports. Late last year Plank...
Kevin Plank Keynoting NSGA Team Summit
Team dealers who attend the NSGA’s 9th Annual Team Dealer Summit in May can hear Kevin Plank’s story first-hand when he delivers the keynote speech to both team and retail attendees. Plank will provide his views on the past, present and future of th...
Easton Wins Nano Award
The 2006 Nano 50 Awards, which are voted on by a panel of judges from the science and technology industries, listed Easton Sports’ Stealth Comp CNT baseball bat as one of the top 50 products that will have a significant impact on the future of nanote...
Adams Honors Coach of the Year
The all-time winningest high school football coach in the world recently received one of the most prestigious awards in the game – the Adams USA National Coach of the Year Award. John McKissick, who just completed his 54th season at the helm at Summe...
Buying Group Therapy, Part Two
There was a time when the four team buying groups operated as a fraternity, overseen for the most part by the patriarchal figures who founded them decades ago and operating under a gentlemen’s agreement where everyone respected each other.
In the closing months of 2006, Athletic Dealers of America (ADA) founder Don Sonandres attempted to sell his group to Worldwide Distributors, until his membership reminded him they possessed a right of first refusal on any sale. So the members step...
Veteran Success
The baseball business remains a stalwart for America’s team dealers, but they are being
Like a veteran starter that gives his team a reliable supply of innings each season, the baseball business continues to generate steady sales for most dealers. And just like that veteran hurler, a dealer’s success is often determined by the line-up h...
Bat Battles
As local governments look to legislate the use of metal bats, the industry lobbies to avoid a precedent not supported by facts.
A controversial, high-stakes baseball battle is occurring away from the diamond, but it has nothing to do with balls and strikes. Rather, New York City council members are challenging the safety of aluminum and composite bats. James Oddo, a Staten...
View From The Easton
Easton’s Dan Jelinek provides an update on the Easton-Bell/Riddell merger one year later, and how it keeps its Riddell and Easton
Six months ago, Easton-Bell Sports, the recently combined sporting goods equipment manufacturer, named industry veteran Dan Jelinek president of the Team Sports Division, which encompasses both Easton Sports and Riddell Sports. Jelinek, who had ser...
Staying Power
Under Armour remains the undisputed King of the Performance Apparel Hill, but competitors such as Russell Athletic, T3K, McDavid and others have been making inroads in the team market.
Performance apparel remains the darling of the team sports business. The apparel category, driven by the unrivaled success of Under Armour, Baltimore, MD, continues to deliver full margins; discounting, particularly of the UA brand, remains a dirty w...
Topping It Off
Technology – in the form of moisture management, new fabrications and color changing – is standard now in team caps and vendors are offering an array of alternatives for 2007.
Staying On Top Four new styles of available from Top of the World for 2007. • Elite Mesh 1Fit … A soft performance mesh, 1Fit is offered in white and team colors. The front is designed with the primary logo in 3D with the rear secondary logo flat...
Sport Bag Confidential
Sport bag vendors are unanimous in their belief that there is excellent potential for team dealers to make strong margins by customizing bags for all levels.
Let’s start simple: How is the market for sports bags? Harry Keeny: Today’s market is segmented into many niches, the hierarchy of which would resemble a pyramid. The top (and smallest) segment would be the professional teams/players. The next le...
To The Mat
Wrestling has as loyal a participant base as there is in sports, and state-of-the-art products are serving a demanding and educated athlete.
Headgear That Intimidates Cliff Keen’s major new product introduction for 2007 is the Twister Headgear, whose tagline reads: “Introducing intimidation in the form of headgear.” The Twister's two-strap design ensures comfort and security, even ...
Not Your Father's Mouthguard
Vendors open their mouths and say ‘Ah ha’
Are mouthguards a team or retail sale? What’s the difference between a $1 and $20 product? Is there really anything new in the category? And should team dealers and retailers care? A roundtable discussion of leading mouthguard vendors answers these c...
Source Appeal
At first glance it seems like a good business decision. Find a few commodity items made in any of dozen
Not so fast, say those team dealers, retailers and buying groups that have been there, done that. Don’t forget to take into account the challenges of overseas ordering – language barriers, time differences, and customs clearances – and the mandator...
The End Zone
The blog Touts Cutters One of the more aggressive vendors in team sports lately has been Cutters Gloves, which is really pushing its receivers’ gloves in the NFL despite being hamstrung by the league’s exclusive deal with Reebok that allows no lo...
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