adidas, Dick's Partner To Develop Baseball Equipment Line

adidas has signed a multi-year deal with Dick's Sporting Goods to "develop an exclusive line of baseball equipment, marking the sporting goods company's first U.S. foray in the sport beyond footwear and apparel," according to Eric Fisher of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. To promote the product line, adidas “renegotiated its endorsement deal” with Phillies 1B Ryan Howard to go “beyond his existing positioning for footwear and apparel.” Howard will be featured in a marketing campaign that will cover TV, print ads and advertorial placements for the new gear, which will be developed “primarily by Dick’s.” adidas North America President Patrik Nilsson said, "We're trying to take a much more holistic approach to [baseball], and this is a space where we haven't really played before." Nilsson added, "We have a very good mindshare in this country relative to our primary competitor (Nike), but we're not as close on market share, and we're trying to close that gap" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 2/11 issue).

MLL: Dick's Sporting Goods and Major League Lacrosse (MLL) have come to terms on a multi-year sponsorship agreement under which Dick's will be the presenting sponsor of the helmet cam on ESPN2's MLL broadcasts. Dick's also will receive signage boards at each MLL venue and will become the uniform sponsor of the MLL Denver Outlaws (MLL).