The Top National stories and the Latest headlines across the Active Lifestyle Market for the week of June 29, 2020 covered in the SGB Updates — delivered to your inbox every business day. From the SGB Media family to yours, we wish everyone a safe and Happy July 4th holiday! (Read More)
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that total non-farm payroll employment rose by 4.8 million in June, and the unemployment rate declined to 11.1 percent. Analysts had projected the addition of just 3.1 million jobs resulting in a 12.2 percent unemployment rate. (Read More)
Today’s topsy-turvy media landscape just got a bit topsier and turvier with Pocket Outdoor Media’s (POM) end-of-June acquisition of the Healthy Living, Fitness, and Outdoor divisions of Active Interest Media (AIM). Included in the acquisition are AIM titles Yoga Journal, SKI, Climbing, BACKPACKER, Warren Miller Entertainment, Oxygen, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, Clean Eating, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, NatuRx, Muscle & Performance, Nastar, Fly Fishing Film Tour, National Park Trips, and SNEWS. (Read More)
PrimaLoft, Inc. inked a licensing agreement with Fiberpartner, a global supplier of stapled fibers, technical yarns and plastics. The agreement allows Fiberpartner to develop the use of Primaloft’s PrimaLoft Bio technology in multiple new industries. (Read More)
DeSantis Gunhide, a U.S. manufacturer of holsters and accessories, based in Amityville, NY, announced a partnership with The Evans Group, a multi-line independent sales organization. (Read More)
Walther Arms announced the hiring of Jens Krogh as VP of marketing & product development. Kroghs' past work with firearms brands includes Benelli, STI International, Adams Arms, and, Blaser USA. (Read More)
USA Triathlon, along with Karlton Creech, University of Denver Vice Chancellor for Athletics, Recreation and Ritchie Center Operations, announced that the University of Denver will add women’s triathlon to its varsity sport offerings. The school is the 37th in the nation, the second in Colorado and the ninth at the NCAA Division I level to add the sport. (Read More)
The 2020 Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC), which had been rescheduled to September 29 – October 1, will move to an online interactive “Virtual BLC” due to COVID-19. (Read More)
The economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has officially been declared a recession, but National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said the key question is how long it will last. (Read More)
According to a survey from Kantar Sports Monitor, 82 percent of sports fans expect that they’ll be either more engaged or equally engaged once they return (Read More)
The University of Alabama in Huntsville Department of Athletics announced that it has extended its partnership with Nike as the official apparel, footwear, and uniforms of UAH Athletics. BSN will also serve as the official equipment provider. (Read More)
American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) President and CEO Steve Lamar welcomed the implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ahead of its entry into force on July 1. (Read More)
The FBI completed 2.18 million gun background checks on an NSSF-adjusted basis in June, a hike of 135.7 percent compared to the June 2019 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 924,054. The rate builds on gains of 75.2 percent in May, 69.1 percent in April and 41 percent in March. (Read More)
Minor League Baseball, on Wednesday, canceled its season because of the spread of the coronavirus marking the first time in the organization's 120-year history that it has called off a full season. (Read More)
USA Football has introduced a phased-approach plan for the return of youth football this year. The organization followed guidelines provided by the CDC and worked with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the National Federation of State High School Associations in developing the plan. (Read More)
Famer, the sports coaching and mentorship mobile platform, announced a partnership with US Sports Camps, the largest youth sports summer program in North America, to bring an interactive training experience to thousands of athletes displaced from camp due to COVID-19. US Sports Camps (USSC) is the licensed operator of the NikeSports Camps. (Read More)
The National Football League (NFL) and Football Research, Inc. (FRI) awarded $1.37 million in HeadHealthTECH grant funding to four teams of innovators to support the creation of their helmet prototypes to be submitted as part of the ongoing NFL Helmet Challenge, a contest with an additional prize of $1 million. (Read More)
Hannibal-LaGrange University in Missouri announced that it has entered into a multi-year partnership with Nike through BSN Sports to make Nike the official apparel of HLGU Athletics. BSN will also serve as the official equipment provider. (Read More)
Macy’s Inc. was seeing weekly improvements in in-store sales as stores reopened but the improvement has “modulated” with in-store sales now running down about 35 percent. Given also the uncertainties around COVID-19, the department store giant sees sales following that trend in the back half of the year. (Read More)
Roku Inc. announced the availability of the Peloton App on the Roku platform. (Read More)