E-commerce is an "e-merging business for most golfwear
companies," but "most are using Internet Web sites as tools
to interact with sales reps in the field and to communicate
with retail accounts," according to Sandra Dolbow of
GOLFWEEK. Dolbow notes Nike's recent e-commerce venture and
Ping Apparel's debut of a site selling "limited golfwear
styles" earlier this month, but adds that "selling products
directly to consumers is mostly taboo, at least for now."
Sport-Haley CEO R.G. Tomlinson: "We're a wholesaler. If we
try to sell to our retailers and consumers, what does that
do to the retailer?" Former Pivot Rules CEO Ken Sieff, who
is now CEO of bluefly.com, which sells "designer [golfwear]
brands at discount prices," says that golfwear is "one of
the slowest industries to develop on the Internet because,
unlike the books sold on Amazon.com, apparel is not a
commodity product." Seiff: "Consumers consider a lot of
criteria when buying clothing. ...It's a much more complex
transaction" (GOLFWEEK, 8/21 issue).
ESPN GETS SET FOR KICKOFF: ESPN.com announced plans to
kick off a series of product launches with the debut of
Soccernet and culminating with a completely redesigned
ESPN.com the first week of September to coincide with the
opening of the NFL season. Among products being launched
are the ESPN Insider "club," new Games and Community
sections, and enhanced live audio programming (ESPN.com).
SON, YOU GOT THE INSIDER ON YOUR HEAD: Fans attending
this weekend's NASCAR Busch Series Food City 250 at Bristol
Motor Speedway in TN will have the chance to try out "The
Insider," a virtual reality headset which provides live
video from the drivers' in-car cameras along with driver-to-
team radio transmissions (See THE DAILY, 7/19). The
headsets were originally tested in May in two Lowe's Motor
Speedway luxury suites and promoters said that the tests
were "so successful ... they decided to make it available to
all fans" (STAR-NEWS, 8/24).
NOTES: Duke Univ. and Total Sports relaunched the
school's Web site at www.GoDuke.com. The site features
changes to downloading speed and layout (Total
Sports)....SportsForWomen.com has relaunched its Web site,
previously known as Just SPORTS For Women. The revamped
site will continue to offer the same editorial content but
features a redesigned layout (SportsForWomen.com).
