Hello Kitty merchandise is growing in MLB as teams sign high-profile players, such as the Astros did with starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai in the offseason. Terry Lefton
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Coming after baseball’s most memorable World Series since the Cubs’ 2016 triumph, the eighty-something apparel and hard-goods licensees gathered here last week under the Florida sun were universally ebullient concerning the current state of their businesses. Looking eight months into their future, however, nearly all believed a lockout will short-circuit business, with many predicting that the 2027 MLB Spring training, if not the regular season, will miss games.
G-III Sports Chairman Carl Banks said his company has been having weekly meetings about lockout scenarios since March. “It’s definitely top of mind,” he added. “We’re talking to everyone about that possibility and everyone’s talking to us.”
The timing as far as starting to affect orders for next year is now, Banks said. “So, we’re looking at what we can build and hold that’s somewhat evergreen or fill blanks where we can here,” he said.
The 2027 MLB All-Star Game is set for Wrigley Field. With his Sports World Chicago store across the street from the “friendly confines,” Managing Partner Bradley Rosen has multiple concerns.
“I’m trying to figure out how much All-Star Game merch we should buy, or even if there will be one,” he said. “It looks like we’re going to miss a lot of our selling season, starting with spring training, so I’m planning on buying 75% percent of what I usually do and chasing the rest.”
“We haven’t gotten any calls [from licensees] about royalties,” said Evan Kaplan, president of MLB Players Inc. and a 27-year veteran of the MLBPA. “We remain optimistic, because there’s lots of incentives to continue playing. When you look at [licensing] sales, everything from spring training to the WBC into this season this year was very positive.”
This Phillies Starter jacket brightened up the display. Terry Lefton
At press time, Polymarket odds indicated a 55% to 57% probability that a new collective-bargaining agreement will not be signed by Dec. 1, when the current one expires. Accordingly, some licensees and teams are starting to operate like it’s not business as usual.
“Our top executives are telling me we’re going to miss games,” said a senior team merchandizing exec. “And there are already deals being done by licensees, as far as paying for goods later or paying partially.”
Added Rosen: “Most of my suppliers are large enough that they can swallow 30-, 60- or 90-day delays on orders. We’ll be OK, long term, but planning is problematic, at best.”
Fourteen-year MLB licensing vet Jamie Leece had headed MLB consumer products since January as SVP business/global consumer products and retail. He was preaching caution.
“If you’re not planning for business as usual, you’ll be unprepared,” he said. “That’s the feedback we’re giving licensees. ... I’d be naive to think [a potential lockout] wasn’t a concern, but a lot of the concerns I’m hearing from licensees here are just the normal blocking and tackling of the day.”
Still, a potential work stoppage was easily the topic du jour.
“Our baseball business has been great, and novelties are hot across sports, but there’s definitely uncertainty,” said Dave Bringe, VP sales at Fanatics’ Wincraft hard-goods unit. “It’s a bit like COVID, where we just didn’t know the future. We’re telling customers to plan like it’s a regular season (impending), and we‘ll certainly work with them when we know more and they know their inventory positions.”
Dodgers apparel, such as this shirt from Antigua, were scattered across the summit. Terry Lefton
Antigua Apparel was showcasing a line of iridescent shirts with MLB team logos which had to be booked by June to guarantee delivery for next season. “We’re cautiously positive,” said Antigua SVP Sales and Marketing Brendan McQuillan, “but like everyone here, we’re planning for every eventuality.”
Antigua and others with stateside manufacturing, decoration or assembly capabilities were optimistic those will be the ultimate determinant of success in case of a lockout.
“We have domestic production and shipping and that will ultimately mean a lot if the worst happens,” said Jack Queally, CEO of hard-goods licensee YouTheFan. “We’re all just waiting to see the outcome.”
Hello Kitty is making its way into sports merchandise, especially for teams with Japanese stars such as the Dodgers. Terry Lefton
The first MLB Licensing Summit with Jamie Leece at the head of MLB CP seemed an appropriate time to ask where growth was coming in the exceptionally mature licensed apparel market.
The World Baseball Classic was evidence of the potential for offshore growth. Closer to home, Leece sees potential in leisure and lifestyle apparel.
“We’re seeing a lot of folks wanting casual looks and cuts as options beyond the jersey, which remains a staple,” he said. “It can be as much about where you express your fandom — say, at the golf course or the beach — that dictates how you express it and with what kind of apparel.”
Leece cited newer MLB licensees filling those niches, including Baseball Lifestyle101 and SWAG Golf.
The line of Simpsons baseball apparel includes this Mets hat from New Era. Lids
Echoing a trend inculcated within fashion apparel, more MLB licensees are adding a third brand, or “collab” partner, in an effort to attract more and different consumers and to garner incremental retail distribution. Some recent examples included an exclusive arrangement with New Era Cap, Lids stores and “The Simpsons.” MLB licensees have also done collabs with labels including Ralph Lauren, OVO and Kith.
The question is, how many is too many?
“You can’t license an unlimited number of properties, but collabs give us and licensees a moment to connect and then you can figure out if it should be a brand by itself,” MLB’s Jamie Leece said.
G-III had a huge success with a Bad Bunny collab, based on his Super Bowl Halftime Show appearance. Tyler, the Creator was the engine to another collab hit for G-III. but Chairman Carl Banks is advising restraint. “Too many collabs just aren’t meaningful,” he said. “We’ve got guys approaching us all the time, but they have to be significant for the brand and the consumer or we won’t do them.”
Said Leece: “We don’t do them blindly. It gets down to the importance of personalization, and whether those collabs really are getting you to new audiences and distribution.”
Sportiqe's shirt is a homage to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York," which plays at Yankee Stadium after every win from the Bronx Bombers. Terry Lefton
A different kind of co-brand combining baseball and music has turned into a growing business for licensee Sportiqe, which sells apparel that celebrates fans’ passions for music and MLB. In New York, naturally that means co-branded Yankees/Frank Sinatra apparel, commemorating the Jersey crooner’s version of “New York, New York” that’s played after every home team win at Yankee Stadium. That debuted last September.
However, Sportiqe co-founder Jason Franklin also showed us apparel combining the IP of Billy Joel and the Yankees and Willie Nelson with the Astros and featuring Elton John’s 1975 hit “Philadelphia Freedom” for the upcoming MLB All-Star Game in the City of Brotherly Love. Already in the pipeline is Sinatra’s “My Kind of Town” apparel for next year’s MLB ASG at Wrigley.
“There’s a unique connection among those that love sports and music,” Franklin said. “That’s our sweet spot.”
100% showcased sunglasses and more at the MLB Licensing Summit, filing an Oakley-sized gap in the market. Terry Lefton
With Oakley having dropped its MLB eyewear license to focus on its pricey NFL rights, 100% — a brand that originally established itself in motocross and dirt-biking circles — is MLB’s new premium ($150-$190) sunglasses licensee.
Distribution seems solid, including Dick’s Sports Goods, Academy and Scheels. 100% is building a collection of MLB endorsers that includes the Mets’ Juan Soto, the Padres’ Fernando Tatís Jr., the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz and the Braves’ Michael Harris.
Knockaround remains the league’s lower-end sunglasses licensee, with a retail price point of around $40.
MLB has become ISlide’s top-performing license for its footwear. ISlide
Former “Shark Tank” entrant ISlide, which has made licensed slides its principal business since 2013, is closing the toes on its footwear for the first time with “The Mission,” an Ugg-like “microsuede” shoe with a rubber sole.
In Florida, ISlide was showing pairs with Yankees and other indicia. MLB has become ISlide’s top-performing license, but the “non-slides” will eventually also carry NBA, NHL, and collegiate logos. Retail availability is slated for September, with an MSRP of $79.99.
There’s also talk of ISlide’s developing golf slides with a magnet to hold a ball marker.
NASCAR brought on San Diego-based Qualcomm Technologies for its planned Naval Base Coronado this summer, arguably the most high-profile sponsor to join the event yet, writes SBJ’s Adam Stern.
The ATP opened an online retail store in January, and in April popped up its first brick-and-mortar retail shop at a tournament at the Madrid Open with Levy Merchandising as its partner, notes SBJ’s Rob Schaefer. It will do so again during the Italian Open in Rome, which begins this week.
Schaefer also writes that the International Tennis HOF signed N.Y.-based wealth management firm Cerity Partners as title sponsor of the Hall of Fame Open, a grass-court ATP Challenger/WTA 125 tournament it hosts annually on its Newport, R.I. grounds.
