SPORTS EQUIPMENT AND APPAREL

INDUSTRY- ENVIORNMENTAL SCAN

• Different clothing companies like Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, and Jordan sponsor and make jerseys for teams in college and professional sports. Many teams want jerseys that look good and that fans and people enjoy.

• The government provides trademarks and patents for the companies that make the equipment and apparel. Without these trademarks, the designs of the clothing and equipment can be taken, so companies need to have the government provide trademarks so that the company is protected.

• Technology plays a key part in producing and marketing sports equipment and apparel. These companies create websites to market their products so that people can buy and look at things they want to get. Their websites are a huge part in their business.

• Nike is currently one of the most popular clothing and sports equipment companies of all time. These sport clothes are huge trends with young adults. The equipment that is produced also have trends. Football cleats go through phases every year, one year people will like one pair, the next year they will like another.

• Legal issues arise plenty of times. One company will make a product very similar to another companies product. For example, a cheap knock off of Nike can produce socks that have a symbol slightly different than Nikes. Nike can then take actions towards the knockoff company.

• Many of the products are made in Asia (like many other products). Most of the products then ship out to the USA. The US trades the bulk of the products produced by sports companies. Many countries play sports all around the world, and they need the equipment to play. Therefore, global trade is a key part in making more money.

• In Japan, baseball is a very popular past time. The sports companies target Japan for selling baseball equipment like baseball bats, gloves, etc. Whatever the sports culture is in a given country, determines on how different companies will market their products.

• Each company has a code of ethics. A code of ethics is a company's principles that they have to abide by. If they break these ethics then legal actions could be taken. There are often disputes about one company stealing another company’s designs for clothing and equipment.