NBA Merch Team, Adidas Act Fast To Produce Finals Items
The NBA's "vaunted merchandising team" and its official outfitter adidas are part of "Code Blue," a "high-stakes, high profit operation built to race from mere notion to finished product in less than 48 hours," according to the BOSTON GLOBE's Shira Springer, who examines the NBA's merchandising operation. The NBA Finals scheduling, particularly a two-day gap between Game One and Game Two, presents a "unique opportunity." The NBA has "just enough time to put new products in place from one game to the next." adidas Dir of NBA Merchandising Ken Thornby: "Our jobs are on the line with 'Code Blue.'" Working with Thornby is a team of execs, designers and local printers with presses "on standby for the next big thing." There are about 20 people directly involved with "Code Blue," with bases of operation in Canton, Massachusetts, N.Y. and Indianapolis. If the league "catches a wave of fan interest, the sales numbers could be staggering." adidas has already shipped more than 10,000 "Beat LA" shirts, and when the shirts sold out during Game One, the "focus was on new graphics to further capitalize on the slogan." Twelve hours after Game One, mock-ups of new T-shirts included "fresh 'Beat LA' designs, including one with the Celtics shamrock logo and another with the [Massachusetts] license plate." There also was a Larry Bird-Magic Johnson split-screen T-shirt and a "Big Six" shirt with Celtics F Kevin Garnett. Another mock-up was a "takeoff on a slogan appearing in a current Gatorade commercial featuring Garnett." Only a "couple of hours earlier the T-shirt and the 'Great men' phrasing was approved by the legal department and the NBA." The legal department "ensures there is no trademark infringement, while the NBA checks graphics for authenticity and accuracy." adidas NBA Sales Manager Brian Duffy: "There are a lot of hold-ups. You wouldn't believe how many ideas we can't do. Your hit rate is probably about 20[%]." adidas, upon its initial offering to retailers, received a "few thousand orders" for the "Great men" T-shirt. Meanwhile, workers at Boston-based RC Silk Friday were "silk-screening the first batch of 'Beat LA' T-shirts with the new graphics." Code Blue "decided to delay the release of the Bird-Johnson split-screen piece" until today, "underscoring the NBA's ability to continually adjust midstream" (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/8).
AN INVITATION: The NBA has aligned with online invitation portal Evite to create Finals-themed invitations using the league’s much-discussed dual-image pictures and “There Can Be Only One” playoff slogan. The partnership, set to run through the duration of the playoffs, is the first for Evite with a pro sports league (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
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