FORBES' Maury Brown reports New Jersey-based apparel startup RVSLTS has partnered with the MLBPA to release a line of T-shirts and button-downs "that tap the 'big head' caricature design made famous" by artist Allen Mudgett in the '90s. The apparel line features Yankees RF Aaron Judge and SS Didi Gregorius, Cubs 2B Javier Baez and 1B Anthony Rizzo and Red Sox RF Mookie Betts and DH J.D. Martinez. RSVLTS is approaching $10M in "annual sales, and the new partnership will allow them to expand that growth further" (FORBES.com, 10/19).
PRIME REAL ESTATE: GOLF.com's Dylan Dethier noted a top sports agent called hat space a golf player's "No. 1 real estate." The agent: "If you're a Top 30 player, you're definitely making seven figures on this. For a Top 10 guy, you're looking north of $3 million and getting close to eight figures for the most marketable players in the world." Dethier wrote it is "no surprise, then, that nearly every top player takes advantage of the possibilities raised by a hat deal" (GOLF.com, 10/16).
MAMBA MENTALITY: THE ATHLETIC's Jovan Buha noted "nearly half" of the Clippers' roster wore Kobe Bryant's "signature sneakers during the preseason, with five of those nine players exclusively wearing the shoes" during that time. The "resounding sentiment among the group is that the Kobe model is the most comfortable basketball shoe out there." This season's Kobe AD has been "released in three colorways, with the Clippers splitting between the black, grey and red model and the navy, red, grey and neon yellow colorway." The black, grey and purple sneaker is "off limits" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/15).
