SGB Update Sports & Fitness
Varsity Brands to Sell Herff Jones Graduation Business
Varsity Brands, the parent of BSN Sports and Varsity Spirit, said it signed a definitive agreement to sell the Herff Jones Graduation Business, including the Scholastic and Collegiate brand portfolio and manufacturing facilities, to Atlas Holdings.
West Coast Port Workers Ratify New Contract
Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents dockworkers at U.S. West Coast ports, voted to ratify a new six-year contract with the Pacific Maritime Association.
Life Time Breaks Ground on First Ground-Up Pickleball Location
Life Time Chanhassen Pickleball is expected to be completed in early 2024. The 25,000-square-foot building, adjacent to the Life Time Chanhassen, MN athletic country club, will feature eight indoor and seven outdoor pickleball courts, along with a viewing area, lounge, dressing rooms and other amenities.
Vista Outdoor Inc. Files SEC Paperwork to Spin Off the Outdoor Products Group
Vista Outdoor, Inc. publicly filed its Form 10 registration statement on September 5 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its previously-announced plan to separate its Outdoor Products and Sporting Products segments into two independent, publicly-traded companies.
Craft Sportswear N.A. Appoints National Sales Agency for Footwear
Craft said that Waypoint Outdoor’s “vast network and experienced team, combined with Craft’s current rep force will provide an immediate increase of boots on the ground to support Craft’s expanding footwear dealer base and pinnacle accounts.”
Survey: Pickleball On the Rise in Community Associations
According to a recent Snap survey by the Community Associations Institute Foundation for Community Association Research, 77 percent of respondents said that the pickleball courts in their communities were in “Moderate” or “High” demand.
Intersport International Corp. Appoints First Chief Commercial Officer
Pierre Irelli will assume the lead of the IIC’s Commercial Division. Irelli has been chief product officer at Intersport France since 2019. He first joined Intersport in 2013 as a category manager for Team Business.
Under Armour Names Chief Design Officer
Under Armour announced that fashion industry veteran John Varvatos will join the company as chief design officer, leading the design direction for the company and overseeing its design studios in New York, Baltimore and Portland, OR.
Onelife Fitness to Open Location in Manassas, VA in Spring 2024
The sports club joins the nearby Onelife Fitness in Gainesville and is the 30th in the Washington, DC area. The company has over 50 gyms throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Georgia.
SGB Media Releases August 2023 Most Read Articles, Key Metrics
SGB Media published a quick review of the top stories from August 2023 that drove pageviews up 14 percent month-over-month to almost 184,000, while total users grew 10 percent and time spent on the site by each user rose 19 percent for the period.
Active Lifestyle Stocks Move in S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 Indices
Newell Brands and Foot Locker are moving to the SmallCap 600 from their former positions in the S&P 500 and S&P MidCap 400, respectively, and Vail Resorts, Inc. enters the S&P MidCap 400 index.
Power Tee Names New Sales Director
Power Tee, the automated golf teeing system based in the U.K., named golf industry veteran William Gray as sales director.
Report: HS Sports Participation Continues Post-COVID Rebound
Participation in high school sports eclipsed 7.8 million in the 2022/23 school year, reflecting a sharp increase from the previous year as the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) completed its High School Athletics Participation Survey for a second time after the pandemic interrupted its data collection.
Mizuno Adds 25-year Industry Product Vet to Leadership Team
The company added Chris Brewer to its leadership team to focus on the running category.
Authentic Closes on Acquisition of Boardriders
Authentic issued a quick statement late Friday morning that it had closed on the acquisition of street- and actions sports-lifestyle brands Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element, VonZipper, Honolua, and Boardriders.
