Marvel Entertainment and the Cowboys yesterday announced an agreement that allows the team to license Marvel characters and to develop co-branded merchandise featuring Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and other Super Heroes. The Marvel/Cowboys collection for infants, kids, and adults will include T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, caps and onesies. The line will debut this summer at retailers as well as at Cowboys Stadium and Cowboys fan shops (Marvel/Cowboys). In Ft. Worth, Barry Shlachter notes the “co-branding was the idea” of Cowboys Exec VP and Chief Sales & Marketing Officer Jerry Jones Jr. Cowboys VP/PR & Communications Rich Dalrymple yesterday said that the merchandise “was shipped over the July Fourth weekend to retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods, Football Fanatics, Champs and Eastbay.” Marvel Licensing Dir Mike Jerchower in an e-mail indicated that the company “has veto power over designs and receives a royalty based on sales” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 7/7). Jones said that the pairing of characters from Marvel with the Cowboys “was a way to blend a well-known team with members of a famed super team, the Avengers.” The AP noted the move is part of Marvel’s “growing effort to expand its characters’ appeal in new markets and to fans outside comics.” The company earlier this year “started offering NBA-themed apparel in conjunction” with the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics (AP, 7/6). Cowboys Dir of Corporate Communications Brett Daniels in an e-mail said that there are “no plans to portray individual Dallas players as superheroes.” Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/6).
