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Koch Says Title Sponsorship Of New Era Bowl
Is Great For Ties To Yankee Stadium, New York |
New Era Cap Co. CEO Chris Koch spoke to CNBC.com’s Darren Rovell about "where the private company is headed" before its sponsorship of the Pinstripe Bowl tomorrow at Yankee Stadium. Below are excerpts from the Q&A.
Q: Why did you decide to sponsor a bowl game?
Koch: We looked at it as getting in on the ground floor of something that will be a historic event. It was a great opportunity to get involved in college football, a bowl game, Yankee Stadium, New York, December. We just thought it all made sense for our brand to attach to college sports.
Q: You recently won the bid to be the exclusive on-field cap of the NFL starting in 2012. Reebok had the rights for the past 10 years. Nike won the apparel rights and they say there’s a lot of growth. You don’t see people at football games with hats on. How much growth is there in the football hat business in the NFL?
Koch: We think there’s a tremendous upside for a company like New Era because of what we do and because it’s not business as usual for us. It’s always about innovation, always something new. It’s always giving people a reason to buy another cap and we think we can do that in the NFL.
Q: A couple years ago, you decided to open New Era branded stores. How many do you have now, what is the potential growth and are they profitable?
Koch: We have seven right now in New York City, Buffalo, Toronto, Atlanta and overseas in London, Birmingham, Berlin. And we will be in Tokyo and Hong Kong. We’re thinking about having stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. We like the experience we provide to the customer, but it’s not like it’s just a marketing loss in our line item. Those stores are run to make money (CNBC.com, 12/28).
