GETTY IMAGES (2)
Under
Armour
endorsers
Rafael
Soriano
(left, sporting
UA shoes)
and Ryan
Zimmerman
(gloves).As the World Series opens this week, Under Armour is close to completing a deal that would gain it the rights to manufacture performance footwear with MLB logos and the ability to use its stable of baseball players in advertising wearing MLB uniforms.
“They have played around the fringes, but now they want to be a real business partner of MLB,” said a source with knowledge of the deal. Neither MLB officials nor Under Armour would comment.
Sources said that no apparel rights will be included in the deal, and that the first Under Armour MLB shoes are expected at retail by early next year. Under Armour’s MLB endorsers include Rafael Soriano, Ryan Zimmerman and Cal Ripken.
Rival footwear brand Reebok has held casual MLB footwear rights since 2004. Nike also has commercial use rights, along with underlayer and other licensed apparel rights. Footjoy makes licensed MLB golf spikes; Allen Edmonds has an MLB license for casual footwear and MLB-logoed shoe trees.
Meanwhile, MLB is eyeing plans for its latest cause-related initiatives against the first four World Series games. Game 1 will be tied to Stand Up to Cancer, MLB’s biggest philanthropic tie, and be preceded by hospital visits by current and retired players. MLB officials and players will sign a wall in support of friends or relatives who have been afflicted with the disease, and fans at the game will be asked to Stand Up to Cancer at the game and contribute to the cause.
Game 2 will feature the presentation of the Chevy-sponsored Roberto Clemente Award, which goes to the player who exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship and community involvement. Visits to a school and hospital by Clemente’s widow, Vera, are also scheduled. UNICEF’s 60th anniversary will also be observed during the broadcast.
Game 3 is a tribute to youth, feting the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities and Boys and Girls Clubs programs, and include a pregame clinic. The fourth game sees the Hank Aaron Award given annually to the top hitter in each league and will honor returning veterans. In-game PSAs on Fox will support the causes.
An increase in personalization/customization has helped grow licensing sales, tying in local markets with series-clinching T-shirts and other apparel. Philadelphia’s division-clinching locker room shirt by Majestic, which included Citizens Bank Park, was the top seller. For the first time MLB will produce three versions of its 300-plus-page $15 World Series program: one for each team and one with a generic World Series cover.
“It’s working so well, I am telling everyone that from now on this approach is one we will take, even though it costs more and is really difficult when teams are going down to the wire,” said MLB licensing chief Howard Smith.
