10 minute read
INDUSTRY NOW
Play It Again Sports Becomes Official Resale Partner of Rawlings and Easton
Winmark Corporation announced that its Play It Again Sports retail chain has entered into a partnership with Rawlings Sporting Goods, Inc., makers of the iconic baseball and softball gear and Easton bats, as the Official Resale Partner of Rawlings and Easton. As partners in value and sustainability, Play It Again Sports and Rawlings/Easton will work together to help players extend the life of their equipment, reduce environmental impact and provide value to baseball and softball players in their local communities across North America.
With over 280 franchised locations throughout North America, Play It Again Sports will provide Rawlings and Easton customers a resale option for their quality Rawlings and Easton products, which will help promote their iconic brands through a sustainable solution and help keep product out of landfills. “Winmark has been a partner with both Rawlings and Easton for decades,” stated Renae Gaudette, Chief Operating Officer of Winmark. “To formally recognize this important relationship as an official resale partner is an exciting day for us. Our Play It Again Sports franchised locations are uniquely positioned to extend the lives of quality used Rawlings and Easton products, and this partnership supports our mutual goals of sustainability and providing value to local communities.” As a Premier Sustainability Partner of Winmark & Play It Again Sports, Rawlings/Easton will sponsor Play It Again Sports Buy-Drive events and National Recycling Day promotions incentivizing baseball and softball players to sell their Rawlings and Easton gear for cash instead of it going to waste. Rawlings/Easton and Play It Again Sports will also team up to produce content that will be distributed on Rawlings’ and Easton’s YouTube and social channels and promoted by Play It Again Sports via local stores, social channels, website and national PR efforts.
“This collaboration with our long-time partners at Play It Again Sports and Winmark Corporation exemplifies our admiration for all the wonderful work they do to create a more sustainable environment for the athletes that use Rawlings and Easton products,” said Dave Bracci, National Sales Director for Rawlings. “We maintain a shared vision to provide quality baseball and softball products to athletes of all abilities and ages and look forward to growing our relationship in the future.”
Image Apparel Solutions Pairs with Athletic Licensing Company on NIL
Image Apparel Solutions (IAS) launched an online store platform that complies with NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) regulations. To ensure a streamlined, secure and transparent process, IAS has partnered with Athletic Licensing Company (ALC), experts in NIL compliance and administration. Since the landmark Supreme Court decision in NCAA v. Alston, universities have struggled how to offer personalized merchandise, while ensuring student athletes are appropriately compensated under NIL regulations. The IAS online store option ensures that personalized athletic apparel can be sold to an athlete’s fans, family members and supporters and the student-athlete will receive his or her due royalty. “We’ve developed a straightforward solution to an extremely difficult problem,” said IAS President Tim Kelliher. “Our expertise in branded apparel and merchandising, combined with ALC’s expertise in NIL regulations and disbursements, ensures that athletic programs can offer high-quality, personalized merchandise to their fans, know that their student-athletes are being compensated fairly, and maintain their compliance.” Said ALC President Bobby Bramhall: “ALC is proud to partner with IAS to administer the NIL rights of athletes they serve. IAS’s NIL focus is what this new age in college athletics is all about, offering great products, keeping athletes at the center and providing revenue opportunities that benefit the student-athletes alongside the institutions they play for. Thanks to IAS, I will be wearing the names, logos and brands of my favorite college athletes in Year Two of NIL.”
Image Apparel Solutions has been an industry leader in innovative decoration techniques and promotional merchandise, featuring Performance Flex, applique, embroidery, screen printing and knitwear, since 1993 in the Chicago suburb of Wheeling. Learn more at www.image-apparel-solutions.com. Image Apparel Solutions is an NSGA member.
Athlete Licensing Company is an NIL company for all studentathletes that provides transparent NIL representation, intellectual property administration and brand monetization to studentathletes. There are no membership fees for athletes to join in 2022. Learn more at www.athlete-licensing.com.
The Spalding Momentous EZ Assembly Portable Basketball Goals were recalled by Russell Brands because of an impact injury hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced. Welds in the arm attaching the backboard to the pole can fail and cause the backboard to fall, posing an impact injury hazard to consumers.
The goals have a 50-inch or 54-inch acrylic clear backboard with a visible “H-frame” providing support behind the backboard, or a 54-inch acrylic clear backboard with aluminum trim, but no “H-frame.” All backboard styles are attached to a black metal pole with a black metal arm. “Spalding” is printed on the front of the black base and “6E” is molded on the back. The numbers 1010, 1011 or 1012 are printed to the right of the CAUTION statement on the front of the backboard.
Consumers should immediately stop using the portable basketball goals and contact Spalding to arrange for a technician to remove the original arm and install a new arm on the goal system. Spalding is contacting all known purchasers. About 13,400 units were sold in the United States and 62 in Canada, according to the CPSC. There have been 26 reports of weld failures, including three backboards separating from the pole. One injury involved the backboard hitting a consumer on the shoulder/upper torso and another injury involved a consumer being hit on the head. The basketball goals were sold at Academy and Scheels stores nationwide and online at Spalding.com and Amazon.com from May 2021–April 2022 for approximately $400–$600.
Moe Stein, the second-generation owner of Frank’s Sport Shop in the Bronx, New York passed away in early September at the age of 93. Frank’s Sport Shop celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and Moe was still working at the store until a couple of weeks before his death. An Instagram post paid tribute to Moe Stein: “Moe was truly a Bronx legend, born and raised in Frank’s Sport Shop. Moe inherited the business from his father Frank and continued to work there with his children until he was 93 years old. He was the character and face of the business. If you know Frank’s, you know Moe. We will miss him greatly.” Frank’s Sport Shop opened in Manhattan’s Bowery in 1922 and moved a few years later to its current location. Moe Stein kept Frank’s Sport Shop going strong during the struggles of The Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s.
STAHLS’ Releases PVC Patches
STAHLS’ released PVC Patches, another quality custom transfer option in the Emblems & Patches product line. PVC Patches are high-end, dimensional patches that appeal to a wide range of markets. Featuring a rubber-like look and bright, on-trend color options, these custom patches are available as heat-applied or pressure-sensitive transfers. PVC Patches are soft and flexible but durable enough to withstand wear and tear. With a waterproof finish and raised thickness, these new transfers are ideal for heavy apparel, outerwear and hard goods such as hats, jackets, bags, water bottles, tumblers and more. STAHLS’ is a long-time NSGA member and supporter of the Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit.
Gatorade’s first caffeinated beverage will be called Fast Twitch. Each 12-ounce bottle has 200 milligrams of caffeine, electrolytes and B vitamins and was developed along with the NFL and sports performance experts. It is designed to be consumed before drinking a hydrating beverage. Fast Twitch comes in some of the same flavors as Gatorade and will be on the sidelines of NFL games this season and in stores in February 2023. “We’ve spent decades studying the best athletes in the world, and what we’ve learned is there hasn’t been an athletic energy solution they can trust that is designed for them to start fast and ignite their performance,” Anuj Bhasin, vice president of marketing and general manager for Gatorade Brands, said in a statement. Continued on page 19
Fastest in the Industry Domestic & Free-trade zone Hosiery mills
(833)784-2555 Orders@socksquick.com
The Spalding Momentous EZ Assembly Portable Basketball Goals were recalled by Russell Brands because of an impact injury hazard, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced. Welds in the arm attaching the backboard to the pole can fail and cause the backboard to fall, posing an impact injury hazard to consumers.
The goals have a 50-inch or 54-inch acrylic clear backboard with a visible “H-frame” providing support behind the backboard, or a 54-inch acrylic clear backboard with aluminum trim, but no “H-frame.” All backboard styles are attached to a black metal pole with a black metal arm. “Spalding” is printed on the front of the black base and “6E” is molded on the back. The numbers 1010, 1011 or 1012 are printed to the right of the CAUTION statement on the front of the backboard.
Consumers should immediately stop using the portable basketball goals and contact Spalding to arrange for a technician to remove the original arm and install a new arm on the goal system. Spalding is contacting all known purchasers. About 13,400 units were sold in the United States and 62 in Canada, according to the CPSC. There have been 26 reports of weld failures, including three backboards separating from the pole. One injury involved the backboard hitting a consumer on the shoulder/upper torso and another injury involved a consumer being hit on the head. The basketball goals were sold at Academy and Scheels stores nationwide and online at Spalding.com and Amazon.com from May 2021–April 2022 for approximately $400–$600.
Moe Stein, the second-generation owner of Frank’s Sport Shop in the Bronx, New York passed away in early September at the age of 93. Frank’s Sport Shop celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and Moe was still working at the store until a couple of weeks before his death. An Instagram post paid tribute to Moe Stein: “Moe was truly a Bronx legend, born and raised in Frank’s Sport Shop. Moe inherited the business from his father Frank and continued to work there with his children until he was 93 years old. He was the character and face of the business. If you know Frank’s, you know Moe. We will miss him greatly.” Frank’s Sport Shop opened in Manhattan’s Bowery in 1922 and moved a few years later to its current location. Moe Stein kept Frank’s Sport Shop going strong during the struggles of The Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s.
STAHLS’ Releases PVC Patches
STAHLS’ released PVC Patches, another quality custom transfer option in the Emblems & Patches product line. PVC Patches are high-end, dimensional patches that appeal to a wide range of markets. Featuring a rubber-like look and bright, on-trend color options, these custom patches are available as heat-applied or pressure-sensitive transfers. PVC Patches are soft and flexible but durable enough to withstand wear and tear. With a waterproof finish and raised thickness, these new transfers are ideal for heavy apparel, outerwear and hard goods such as hats, jackets, bags, water bottles, tumblers and more. STAHLS’ is a long-time NSGA member and supporter of the Management Conference & Team Dealer Summit.
Gatorade’s first caffeinated beverage will be called Fast Twitch. Each 12-ounce bottle has 200 milligrams of caffeine, electrolytes and B vitamins and was developed along with the NFL and sports performance experts. It is designed to be consumed before drinking a hydrating beverage. Fast Twitch comes in some of the same flavors as Gatorade and will be on the sidelines of NFL games this season and in stores in February 2023. “We’ve spent decades studying the best athletes in the world, and what we’ve learned is there hasn’t been an athletic energy solution they can trust that is designed for them to start fast and ignite their performance,” Anuj Bhasin, vice president of marketing and general manager for Gatorade Brands, said in a statement.
