Under Armor offical gear of NFL combine?

[BamaHater]

How is this possible with Reebok being the official apparel provider of the NFL? I figure it is part of the contracts with the apparel providers.

[dfwabel]

It is possible since Reebok declined sponsoring the combine after 2007 for "economic reasons", according to the Sports Business Journal.

Sports Business Journal from 2008

Reebok spokesman Dan Sarro said it did not make financial sense for the company to sponsor the combine, which is not included in the company’s NFL sponsorship.

Also add the fact that the NFL does not own the combine (National Football Scouting, an Indianapolis-based scouting service) is their partner and players are not under an NFL contract, so why should Reebok be extended to players who are not officially NFL players?

[BamaHater]

That explains it.

[scraw28]

NFL Contract Reebok

The NFL has two more seasons left on the reebok contract

December 20, 2000

PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL; Reebok Strikes Exclusive Deal With N.F.L.

By RICHARD SANDOMIR

Reebok International Ltd. became the exclusive apparel licensee of the National Football League yesterday with a deal that will pay the league at least $250 million over 10 years.

The contract structure could change from the payment of royalties to one in which the league acquires part-ownership of a new Reebok division that will manufacture and sell only N.F.L. products.

The agreement, which is to start in 2002, puts Reebok in total control of the Pro Line apparel that all N.F.L. players and coaches wear on game day.

The pact also provides it with entree to sell league-branded merchandise and a new line of fitness equipment in major department stores and sports performance outlets.

The new deal ended a system in which several companies were Pro Line licensees. This season, Adidas made apparel for 5 clubs, Puma for 13, and Nike for 13.

Next season, Adidas will retain its 5 teams, but Champion will outfit 5, and Reebok will have 20; Nike will conclude its exclusive contract with Dallas.

Reebok had been a Pro Line licensee from 1995 to 1998.

The league has been reassessing its apparel business for a year, knowing that the licensed sports merchandise business had its retail heyday in the early and mid-1990's.

Since then, former N.F.L. licensees like Starter and Pro Player went out of business and Logo Athletic, filed for bankruptcy protection.

''Our business model in apparel was outdated and left us in a passive role,'' said Paul Tagliabue, N.F.L. commissioner. He said the system kept the league at a distance from apparel design, the creation of fitness products and quality control.

''This will mean high quality apparel that focuses on games, the history of the league, fitness and cutting-edge fashion,'' he added.

As to whether the N.F.L. had not paid enough attention to the business, Roger Goodell, the executive vice president of the N.F.L., said: ''Without being critical, there was a wave that everybody rode, and it crashed. It's not that it was a wrong model for its time, but the model doesn't work anymore.''

[Trevis Meseroll]

In the near future Under Armour might be the official apparel for the NFL???

[TheOldRoman]

That article says that Champion was to outfit 5 teams in 2001. Did that end up happening? I thought everybody was reebok that year except for the Adidas teams.

[BRice16]

That article says that Champion was to outfit 5 teams in 2001. Did that end up happening? I thought everybody was reebok that year except for the Adidas teams.

No. Reebok outfitted all of the teams except for the 5 adidas teams. Puma was bought out by Reebok somewhere around that time. Nike's contracts with all of their teams except Dallas were up, so they sold out the last year of their deal to Reebok.

The Champion information was incorrect, they did manufacture some uniforms thru their ACO unit, but were not a player in the licensed apparel side.

[BRice16]

In the near future Under Armour might be the official apparel for the NFL???

UA doesn't have the money or the manufacturing capability to carry out the full NFL contract.

Re-upping with the NFL is what ultimately sunk the first incarnation of Starter and Logo Athletic, and it would do the same to Under Armour. I think they;re fairly content to continue doing what they do.

All bets are off if the American Needle lawsuit doesn't go the NFL's way.

[guest23]

In the near future Under Armour might be the official apparel for the NFL???

UA doesn't have the money or the manufacturing capability to carry out the full NFL contract.

Re-upping with the NFL is what ultimately sunk the first incarnation of Starter and Logo Athletic, and it would do the same to Under Armour. I think they;re fairly content to continue doing what they do.

All bets are off if the American Needle lawsuit doesn't go the NFL's way.

designs were way better off when multiple companies were involved...reebok/adidas sanitized all the apparrel...hell even if they split the exclusive between reebok/adidas they could've had a few more design angles than what they have now.

given the economy I think the exclusive deal may come to an end...the one problem that would have to be worked out is that all the manufacturers would want their logo on the big apparel sellers aka cowboys while the small markets would be less valuable to the brands...I guess you could hold a draft where each label gets a decent shot at picking a top tier club to market.

[BBTV]

In the near future Under Armour might be the official apparel for the NFL???

UA doesn't have the money or the manufacturing capability to carry out the full NFL contract.

Re-upping with the NFL is what ultimately sunk the first incarnation of Starter and Logo Athletic, and it would do the same to Under Armour. I think they;re fairly content to continue doing what they do.

All bets are off if the American Needle lawsuit doesn't go the NFL's way.

designs were way better off when multiple companies were involved...reebok/adidas sanitized all the apparrel...hell even if they split the exclusive between reebok/adidas they could've had a few more design angles than what they have now.

given the economy I think the exclusive deal may come to an end...the one problem that would have to be worked out is that all the manufacturers would want their logo on the big apparel sellers aka cowboys while the small markets would be less valuable to the brands...I guess you could hold a draft where each label gets a decent shot at picking a top tier club to market.

LOL, we'll see the Jaguars sporting Hanes Beefy-Ts.

[AndrewG70]

I haven't seen Champion on anything lately. Are they still even in business?

[TruColor]

I posted these already in another thread, but this year's Scouting Combine logos have alternates with the Under Armor logo in them:

[dfwabel]

I haven't seen Champion on anything lately. Are they still even in business?

Yes. They were spun-off from their parent company, Sara Lee (yes, that Sara Lee) in 2005 along with all their apparel brands, including Hanes. It is more about for them to gain market share in lesser sports apparel in stores like Target.

[BBTV]

I haven't seen Champion on anything lately. Are they still even in business?

Yes. They were spun-off from their parent company, Sara Lee (yes, that Sara Lee) in 2005 along with all their apparel brands, including Hanes. It is more about for them to gain market share in lesser sports apparel in stores like Target.

Weren't they absorbed by some other manufacturer (adidas maybe?), which is why the "Champion Font" has been seen again in recent years? I think Temple uses a variation of it.

[TheOldRoman]

I haven't seen Champion on anything lately. Are they still even in business?

Yes. They were spun-off from their parent company, Sara Lee (yes, that Sara Lee) in 2005 along with all their apparel brands, including Hanes. It is more about for them to gain market share in lesser sports apparel in stores like Target.

Weren't they absorbed by some other manufacturer (adidas maybe?), which is why the "Champion Font" has been seen again in recent years? I think Temple uses a variation of it.

As does Northwestern football. I know most people hate that font, but I miss it. I wish it could come back to pro football. Not for every team, just for some (the Bills in particular).

[tBBP]

As does Northwestern football. I know most people hate that font, but I miss it. I wish it could come back to pro football. Not for every team, just for some (the Bills in particular).

If they do, they'll probably need to be massaged a little so that they don't look too, well, cheap (which is usually about the first thing that comes to people's minds when they see Champion block numbers). That said, I'd also like to see those make a comeback--and in this say and age, they'd be twilled rather than screened, so that would probably help eliminate the "cheapness" factor.

I'd also like to see the "beveled block" numbers (I have no clue if that's the proper term or not) return some day--those that were last used by the St. Louis Rams the first year of their uniform overhaul, and before that by the Jacksonville Jaguars in '95-'96. That style of number seemed to be really popular in the mid-late '60s-early '70s.

[TheOldRoman]

If they do, they'll probably need to be massaged a little so that they don't look too, well, cheap (which is usually about the first thing that comes to people's minds when they see Champion block numbers). That said, I'd also like to see those make a comeback--and in this say and age, they'd be twilled rather than screened, so that would probably help eliminate the "cheapness" factor.

I'd also like to see the "beveled block" numbers (I have no clue if that's the proper term or not) return some day--those that were last used by the St. Louis Rams the first year of their uniform overhaul, and before that by the Jacksonville Jaguars. That style of number seemed to be really popular in the mid-late '60s-early '70s.

I agree that the Champion font could look cheap when screenprinted. Then again, looking back at the first Cowboys-Bills Superbowl recently, Dallas' unis looked cheaper than the Bills' did. I really dislike whatever cheap font the Cowboys used then. It wasn't a standard block.

To me, the ultimate in cheap looking numbers is the ones the the Knicks and Sixers use. That generic font is on every beer-league softball t-shirt you see (or a non-italicized version of the Heat's font - also awful). It is made even worse because the Sixers have single color numbers. They should have just gone all the way and heat-pressed them. The 90's Rams numbers are a close second in terms of cheapness.

Back on topic, I agree with you about the Jag's original font. Classy and understated.

[BBTV]

1. I hate beveled block. If you're going to put the inner bevels in there, just make the damn thing round. Go regular block, or go home.

2. With regular block, I'm not sure if I like the straight-bar 5 better than the slanted-bar 5. I used to prefer the slant, but I'm starting to see the merits of the straight.

3. I wasn't a fan of Champion font, but I didn't think it looked too cheap when it was really thick, like the Bills had it. When the Saints used it, and it was thin (because of the outlines) I thought it was cheap.

4. Those Sixers numbers are the worst of all time. The whole uniform is among the worst, but especially those numbers.