Recently in Apparel Category
Through Tiger Woods infidelities, Nike Inc. still stands by him. When most companies stopped sponsoring or showing Woods' in their ads, Nike and a few other companies stood by Woods' in his efforts to rehabilitate and return to competitive golf. Recently, Nike came out with a commercial promoting its company through Woods'. Standing on a golf course with the swoosh appearing on his hat, Woods' stares into a camera while his unseen father, Earl Woods, who was highly influential on Woods' earlier days, states "Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything?" Nike stresses that the company is not afraid to deal with the problems that their athletes face, and because Woods' is back in the game now, they have to do the best to address the situation and move on. Tiger has been one of the top athletes to make the most money and Nike is not about to give up on him. In upcoming golf matches, Woods' will be using Nike golf products throughout the course.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=55c451a7-f78d-466c-bae4-9384c635de24)
On February 10th the UConn men's basketball team entered the Carrier Dome along with newly designed Syracuse Basketball jerseys. Nike recently developed the Nike Hyper Elite jerseys for elite basketball teams in the NCAA. These jerseys not only become more breathable for the players but, they reduced weight and cut off almost 13 inches of fabric from the jersey.
Another key feature of the newly designed jerseys is the customized back panel, featured in the picture to the right. The back panel now consists of outlines of key places on the Syracuse University campus such as, the Carrier Dome and Carnegie Hall.
The Nike PreCool Vest was developed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a vest that lowers the body's core temperature. The body's muscles work much more efficient and will perform better in competition when muscles are not dedicating their resources to cooling down the body.
The vest consist
of two layers, the inner layer that is filled with frozen water and the outer
layer that is coated with aluminum to act like a thermos, trapping cold in
while reflecting radiant heat. It is designed to be used about an hour before
competition, and athletes keep it on during their normal warm up and then take
it off right before competition, it can help athletes last up to 21% longer
while competing. But the vest is only available for Olympic athletes, but in
time I am sure it will be available for the average joe.
It has always been known that fans like winners, but the extent of this may be surprising.
The Turnkey Brand Index survey was highly populated with winners with the top 15 of 20 top franchises making the playoffs in their leagues. Teams like the Boston Celtics who went from last to first saw their index almost rise 50 point, with the New Orleans Hornets rasing almost 25 points. Other side is though, teams losing also saw their index declining as well. This is all important to marketing executives because if they can identify a swing in an area so they can have an impact.
From: http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60748
As much as this information comes unsurprising that when a team is winning, the more people buy their products and support their team. the problem I have is that it shows how hard it is to be a professional athlete. When you're team is losing most likely you arent going to be seeing jerseys in the streets but when you are its like paradise. People may say winning isnt everything but this survey proves that for these athletes that saying may not be so far away from the truth than we think
Baron Davis, Los Angeles Clippers point guard recently signed a 5 year contract with apparel company Li-Ning in China, writes Sports Business Journal. He plans on creating his own line of shoes and clothing to be sold initially to only the Chinese consumers. Eventually the line could make it to the United States. Li-Ning is trying to approach the American market slowly by using a star in American society like Baron Davis. The 5 year deal Davis has with Li-Ning is supposedly the largest deal by a non-Chinese person with a Chinese company. Davis has already filmed commercials to be showed in China. In past years, Davis had endorsed Reebok, but that contract ended over the summer. The new contract with Li-Ning should be a huge success in China. Davis is not the only NBA player to sign with Chinese companies. Stars such as Jason Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal have contracts of their own with companies like Peak and Li-Ning. Who knows how many American athletes will soon be part of the Chinese Market.
The American market has been decreasing recently. With better opportunities for endorsements in China, more American athletes are bound to go international. Endorsements in China should create a much higher awareness of American athletes, resulting in a great increase in the American sports industry market. Not only will international endorsements help, but lately American professional sports leagues have been traveling across the seas quite a bit. International experience is a key towards future success.
The New York Mets once again heart broke their fans yesterday, losing 4-2 to the Florida Marlins on the last day of the season and once again missing out on the playoffs for the second straight year to the Milwaukee Brewers who defeated the National League Central champion and number 1 seed Chicago Cubs 3-1 on a dominating complete game pitching performance by C.C Sabathia. The loss means a little bit more than missing out on the playoffs though. Since there will be no postseason baseball in flushing, Shea Stadium has hosted its last game ever. Next year the Mets are moving into brand new Citi Field which is right across the street from Shea. That's not all! Unlike Yankee Stadium which will be completely demolished, pieces of Shea will be sold, almost every significant item from the stadium is up for sale.
On September 11th, 2008, the New York Mets website reported they would be selling 2000 pieces of official Shea memorabilia, and have a deal with the MeiGray group to sell all the memorabilia. Prices range from 35 dollars for a napkin holder (I think it would be cool to have one) to $100,000 for the entire Mets Home Dugout!, now that would be quite a souvenir albeit the price. Other noteworthy items for sale are the individual letters from the "Shea Stadium" sign for 5 grand each; to both foul poles for 25,000 bones and the 1986 World Championship flag for $ 50,000. I'm surprised the Mets are willing to sell away so much of their prominent things from their only stadium they have ever had, but hey, if you're rich and a Mets fan, you can buy a souvenir way better than a Jersey or Hat!
The official story:
The Shea Stadium memorabilia pricelist:
http://www.loge13.com/pricelist.php
Imagine winning an Olympic gold medal all because of a little help from Nike. Now you can sink those three point shots all because of a 369g Hyperdunk basketball shoe... or even get that chance to be the first to cross the finish line while saving the environment! Nike's new Swift Suit has been engineered by performance-enhancing technologies to include an aerographics mesh system made from 100% recycled polyester yarns. Go fast, and go green!
As the Bejing Olympics grow closer, companies such as Nike have been continuously working on lighter, faster, and stronger products for competing athletes.
"In designing the uniforms and footwear for the Beijing Olympics, Nike worked closely with the China Olympic Committee, the China Federations and the athletes themselves. In Beijing alone, hundreds of feet were scanned to determine the specific morphology of Chinese feet.
The Nike Sports Research Lab collaborated with research institutions in Beijing and Shanghai to look into the most common injuries in sports. Nike also interviewed the athletes about their likes and dislikes in terms of equipment. Performance-enhancing technologies such as Aerographics, Flywire and Lunarlite foam were integral to the creation of the apparel and footwear for Beijing 2008.
Throughout the four years of development, 22 federations and 54 designers were involved, and a total of 22 uniforms and 32 pairs of footwear were created."
Under Armour signed a 3-year deal to title sponsor the ESPNU High School All-American Game. The game will be Saturday, January 5, 2008 and will be held at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. This game allows the nations top seniors to show their skill to a bigger audience. The game will be broadcasted on ABC at 2 p.m. ET. There will be about 80 of the country's top prep football prospects. The players are selected by national recruiting analysts and talent scouts. This game is a joint effort between ESPN and Intersport which is a leading sports and entertainment media and marketing company. On Jan. 4th, ESPN 2 and ESPNU will cover the players participating in multi-faced skills competition. Under Armour is a company that is booming and this is another outlet where they will be showcased for their great athletic gear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) today announced it has signed a three-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the ESPNU High School All-American Game debuting Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The newly titled Under Armour High School All-American Game, an annual all-star football competition spotlighting the nation's top high school seniors, is a joint effort between ESPN and Intersport, a leading sports and entertainment media and marketing company. The game will be broadcast live to most of the nation on ABC at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT and noon MT), and will air tape delay to the west coast audience at noon PT.
Nike Inc. has reached an all cash agreement with Umbro plc, a leading United Kingdom-based global football (soccer) brand with more than 70 years of experience in the world's No. 1 sport and the world's biggest football market.
"Umbro is a brand with a powerful heritage and deep experience in the world's most popular sport and the world's biggest football market," said Nike, Inc. President and CEO Mark Parker.
The acquisition will significantly expand Nike's global leadership in football, a key growth category for the company. Since the early 1990s, Nike has grown its football revenues from about $40 million to approximately $1.5 billion and established brand leadership in the sport.
I don't even know where to start with this one. Nike has a long and glorious tradition of making its shoes for pennies in foreign sweatshops and then brining them back to the US at prices so exorbitant that children are literally mugged on inner-city streets only to have the shoes stolen off of their feet. A PR nightmare? Not if you're Nike. They seem to brush off the criticism with relative ease using the world's most famous athletes as their spokespeople. And... every once in a while they do something to seemingly "give back".Nike unveils shoe for Native Americans
Company says Air Native N7 will be distributed solely to American Indians in effort to promote physical fitness.
BEAVERTON, Ore. (AP) -- Nike unveiled Tuesday what it said is the first shoe designed specifically for American Indians, an effort aiming at promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates.
The Beaverton-based company says the Air Native N7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape of American Indians, and has a culturally specific look. It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost.
