Michigan-based Warrior Sports now is outfitting pro athletes and teams, "the latest step the sporting goods manufacturer is taking to become a global brand," according to Bill Shea of CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS. Players on 12 hockey teams at the Sochi Games "will use Warrior sticks, gloves, helmets and masks." Warrior since its '92 founding has "grown into a retailer of equipment, footwear and apparel for lacrosse, soccer, ice hockey and general lifestyle wear." The company in '11 "made its first major move into global branding," with a uniform deal for EPL club Liverpool. The cost of equipping the team is "easily made up in the retail sales." Company President & CEO David Morrow said that Warrior "sells hundreds of Liverpool-branded items, including 30 types of jackets." Morrow "declined to specify how many jerseys Liverpool sells annually, other than it's 'several million.'" Morrow: "Our home kit is the best-selling in history of Liverpool." He said that Warrior "did more than" $200M in sales last year. That is up from $100M in '10 and "substantially more than" the $14M Warrior was doing annually when Morrow sold the company to New Balance in '04. Morrow said that Warrior's soccer business is "driven by retail sales of performance footwear, which accounts" for 45% of sales, while the "remainder is apparel for players" (CRAINSDETROIT.com, 2/2).
