Impressions - Sports Fan Retailer - Spring 2014 - 18

large letters across the back of the garment
from shoulder blade to shoulder blade,"
Giangola says.
NEW TO THE GAME
Even suppliers that haven't traditionally
catered to the women's sports licensed
product market are getting into the act.
"This is a brand new market for us,"
says Murray Shabot, president and CEO
of World Trade Jewelers, headquartered
in New York's diamond district. Having
recently secured a license from the NBA,
the company has introduced a new jewelry line featuring logos and designs from
all 30 teams.
"The reason we went after this demographic is that we're targeting the more
fashionable female," Shabot says. "Sports
products are usually geared toward men,
but when it comes to fashion, there are a
lot more options for women than there
used to be. A lot of apparel manufacturers are making more fashionable types of
product, and we felt there was an open
area to do same thing in jewelry."
The licensing partnership with World
Trade Jewelers shows the NBA sees women as a powerful demographic worthy of
sharing the proverbial court with men.
"Women are an integral component
of our fan base and great consumers of
NBA merchandise," says Lisa Piken Koper, vice president of licensing for the
NBA. "Our female fans are stylish and
value newness. As such, we continually
diversify our women's offering by adding
compelling, trend-right products. World
Trade's fine jewelry will make a great
addition to the assortment."
Overall, Shabot says, the jewelry industry is struggling and the companies
that are weathering the economy are
producing unique and proprietary items.
"I'm a huge NBA fan, and I just felt
there was an opportunity out there to
do something different and set ourselves
apart," he says. "Our company's biggest
success is the Hershey Kiss line, a product that is licensed with Hershey's. We
approached the NBA with the same licensing idea."
Shabot defines women's sports-themed
18 Spring 2014

The current sports licensed product
marketplace features merchandise
designed speciﬁcally for women,
including swimwear, cosmetics and
other female-driven items.

jewelry as a niche market currently. "The
overall jewelry market is 90% female, but
in sports, it's mostly male," he says. "The
women's sports-themed jewelry market
is much smaller at the moment."
The cosmetics industry also is beginning to offer licensed sports-themed
products. "One of the trends we are
picking up on is the nail décor trend,"
Pearl says. "We just launched our 2014
NBA- and NCAA-inspired nail collection. What is great about items such as
nail art, or other accessories, is that you
can show a pop of team spirit in a more
personal way."
WINNING SEASONS AHEAD?
With the fan base and its available dollars, the future is bright for the women's
sports licensed product market. However, challenges lie in the number of retailers willing to devote space to products
geared toward this important consumer
demographic.
"The future of this market depends on
the speed at which retailers recognize and
invest in various sub-demographics within the female consumer segment," IMG
College's Giangola says. "Long gone are
the days where juniors sizes can be the
only option. There are female fans and
alumni who fall within the contemporary, missy and plus-size classifications."
He says sporting goods retailers like

Indianapolis-based Lids and Birmingham, Ala.-based Hibbett Sports already
have profited from women's sports apparel sales, as have Minneapolis-based
Target; Bradenton, Fla.-based Bealls; and
Omaha, Neb.-based Gordmans.
"If [retailers] want their women's product, like apparel, to sell, leagues and
colleges have to understand what drives
fashion trends," Brochstein says. "The
head of licensing at Ohio State told me
he had some nice women's apparel, but
the problem is that retailers will only
carry those items sporadically - usually at the start of the season - and then
ignore them the rest of the time."
While it's clear that women garner
more playing time in the sports licensed
product game than just a few pink products, leagues still put strong marketing
efforts behind charitable causes that may
be near and dear to female consumers'
hearts, such as breast cancer awareness.
"The WNBA has Breast Health Awareness Week during the WNBA season in
August," Koper says. "Since the league's
inception, the WNBA teams and players
have supported the campaign by wearing pink uniforms, headbands, wristbands and shooting shirts. Additionally,
we have multiple licensees who partner
with breast cancer charities and donate
a portion of NBA product proceeds to
this important cause."
The bottom line: The female consumer
has proven just as powerful as her male
counterpart. Product suppliers and retailers must react accordingly with appropriately tailored wares, or risk striking
out on profits.
"[Women] yearn to purchase fashionable apparel in their sizes, yet it's not
broadly available," Pearl says. "Over the
next few years, we will likely see more
investment in products targeting her and
the variety she desires."
Tim Darnell is an Atlanta-based
award-winning writer who as written
for a number of national consumer and
trade publications. For more information
or to comment on this article, email Tim
at timdarnellatl@gmail.com.
SportsFan Retailer

Impressions - Sports Fan Retailer - Spring 2014

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