Founder Sport Group, formerly Badger Sportswear, announced that the company will acquire Teamwork Athletic Apparel, an on-demand apparel manufacturing company serving team uniform dealers and decorators with a variety of stock, sublimated and licensed apparel.
Teamwork has pioneered the development of proprietary, patented technologies that enable the design, production and delivery of customized, sublimated garments at industry-leading turnaround times.
The acquisition of Teamwork adds a fourth highly regarded producer of custom apparel for teams, players, families and fans to the growing portfolio of Founder Sport Group, which also includes Badger Sport, Alleson Athletic and Garb Athletics.
“Teamwork is a perfect strategic fit for us,” said John Anton, chief executive officer of Founder Sport Group. “With Teamwork, we’re adding the industry leader in quick-turn custom sublimation and increasing our production capacity. We’ll also be able to apply Teamwork’s patent-protected technology to improve delivery times across all the brands within our portfolio.”
Matt Lehrer, co-owner of Teamwork, said joining with Founder Sport Group will better enable Teamwork to prosper in a changing and consolidating industry. “We are thrilled to become part of the Founder Sport Group family and look forward to the opportunities that will arise from the scale, growth capital, marketing and sales capabilities Founder Sport Group brings.”
Teamwork is the third acquisition completed by Founder Sport Group in less than a year. The company acquired Alleson Athletic and Garb Athletics in the fourth quarter of 2017.
“We are moving fast because we see terrific opportunities for growth in this industry,” said Anton. “The long-term winners will be companies that offer a broad range of complimentary products, harness digital technologies to aggressively shorten delivery times, invest in new product development and consistently deliver best-in-class customer service,” he added.
Anton noted that Teamwork also brings Founder Sport Group new licensing agreements with over 600 organizations, including a host of colleges, fraternities and sororities. “These signature licensing agreements will enable us to further expand our collegiate bookstore channel,” said Anton.
Teamwork, founded in 1987, is based in San Marcos, CA, with a manufacturing plant in San Luis de Colorado, Mexico.
Established in 1971 as Badger Sportswear, Founder Sport Group is a privately held company located in Statesville, NC. In 2017, Badger Sport acquired Alleson Athletic and Garb Athletics. Founder Sport Group currently has four manufacturing plants and four distribution warehouses worldwide.
Photo courtesy Founder Sport Group
