Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Latest Buzz on...

From: The Wall Street Journal
February 16, 2009

ATHLETIC SHOES
MATT POWELL
SportsOneSource
Analyst

LIGHTER THAN AIR: It's the age-old question in the sneaker business: How do you make the shoe lighter? Mr. Powell, an analyst at SportsOneSource, a Charlotte, N.C., market-research firm, says Nike Inc. has introduced a technology called Flywire -- thin, nearly unbreakable strings that run through the upper part of the shoe, holding the sneaker together while eliminating much of the bulk. After testing the technology at the Olympics, Nike is offering it to consumers, with commercial lines for basketball and tennis, among others.

GOING GREEN: Traditional midsoles -- the sole's middle layer -- are made of a chemical compound that might last as long as 1,000 years in a landfill. Brooks Sports Inc. of Bothell, Wash., developed a running shoe with a biodegradable midsole that decomposes in a landfill over 20 years. The company says that by the end of the year all its footwear brands will have biodegradable midsoles.

ASTROTURF: Shoes slipping on the artificial grass? Reebok, a division of Adidas AG, is working with the maker of AstroTurf to study the interactions between footwear and field surfaces. The goal is to get a grip on traction before new Reebok shoes are developed sometime in the near future.

—Nicholas Casey

LINK to the WSJ

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

NFL: Economics Affect the Big Guys

From: The Bleacher Report
by: Jonathan Williams

Sports teams are businesses no different from many others, they rely on their consumers to keep buying what they are selling. According to Matt Powell at SportsOneSource suggested that the league merchandise sales are down 15 percent from the previous year.

We will not know for sure until the next summer how the lost sponsors effect sports in general, the NFL is positioned to still be in good shape this coming year. Of course being the top league in the country helps to mitigate it.

LINK to The Bleacher Report

Monday, February 16, 2009

R/GA: Digital AOY 2008

The IPG shop's mantra of utility over gimmickry proves its relevance as the stakes rise

AdWeek Feb 16, 2009

The key to these platforms is that they sell products directly, rather than tell stories about them. In the case of Nike+, the proof is in the numbers. Since its debut, runners have logged 100 million miles worldwide. Most important, the company's global running-shoe sales are up from $8 billion for the fiscal year ending May 2006 to $9.7 billion for the year ending May 2008, a 21 percent increase. Market share has gone from 48 percent in the U.S. in 2006 to 61 percent in 2008, according to SportsOneSource.

Link to Ad Week

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Fans immediately rush for championship gear

By Kim Leonard
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, February 3, 2009


After trailing the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants before the AFC Championship game here, sales of official Steelers merchandise surged to first place among the 32 NFL teams.

Steelers shirts, hats and other items represented 13.2 percent of about $25 million in sales the week of Jan. 18, the most recent figures available, analyst Matt Powell with SportsOneSource said. The Cardinals were No. 7, with a 4.9 percent share.

Those figures don't count dozens of businesses making and selling non-official items that appeal to fans.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_609977.html

Friday, January 30, 2009

Wade "1" Is A Shoe-In For Dwyane & An Update From Converse

CNBC Wednesday, 28 Jan 2009
By: Darren Rovell

This year, Sales of Wade's shoes are off about 50 percent compared to sales last year, according to Matt Powell of SportsOneSource, a sports market retail tracking firm.

Converse and Wade got off to a great start. Although he was drafted fifth overall in the 2003 NBA Draft, the shoe companies, including Nike -- which now owns Converse -- and Adidas skipped over him. His $400,000 a year deal was a paltry sum compared to what LeBron James ($13 million per year) and Carmelo Anthony ($3 million per year) made from Nike.



http://www.cnbc.com/id/28894812

Not so fast Under Armour, you're being sued by the Chicago Cubs

BloggingStocks.com
Jan 26th 2009 5:00PM by Mark Fightmaster

You see, the Cubs are suing Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) for breach of contract (check out SportsOneSource Media for the heads up). The UA logo is emblazoned on the left-center and right-center field doors embedded in the iconic ivy walls of Wrigley Field.

The two entered into a $10.8 million contract two years ago, but the Cubs have filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleging that UA told them on December 12 that it won't sponsor the team for the upcoming season and that it won't meet any obligations. The Cubs expect full payment of the contract, and note that UA reneged on the agreement after realizing its dire financial situation in December. UA contends that the new Cubs management terminated the agreement after the second season, and a new deal was never agreed upon.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/26/not-so-fast-under-armour-youre-being-sued-by-the-chicago-cubs/

Marketplace Roundup - SportsBusiness Daily (subscription)

SportsBusiness Daily (subscription), NC - Jan 21, 2009
BUNGLING SALES: SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell estimated that sales of Bengals merchandise have dropped 40% from $108M in FY ’07 to $64M in this ...

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=sbd.preview&articleID=127104