sportstyle

By Kobie Brown A lthough sublimation seem- i n g l y h a s b e e n a ro u n d forever, ongoing improve- ments in hardware and s o f t w a re t e c h n o l o g i e s , enhanced fabrics and better inks are making this still-rel- atively new process increasingly practical and economical for the team market. The latest developments are helping to streamline inventory needs, speed the design, ordering and delivery process and lower prices and have even created the ability for dealers to build their own private label brands. In this strange pandemic business climate, gaining even the smallest edge can pay huge dividends. "Sublimation has become a leading market for us, especially in basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball. It's fast to produce and the garments are colorfast, lightweight and easy to launder," says Dan Carey, owner of Fort Worth, TX-based Carey's Sporting Goods. "It took a while for sublimation to take off, but now it's a huge part of the market. We now sell almost exclusively sublimated uniforms." He reports that less than 10 percent of his volleyball business calls for screenprinted uniforms, his softball business is divided equally between sublimated and screenprinted uniforms and sublimation is extremely popular with travel baseball and track teams. "The biggest pros are that it's done when you get it, which allows us to drop-ship the product straight to schools. It's also cheaper for manufacturers and there's very little waste," adds Carey. He and most other team dealers agree that from a product standpoint the biggest downside is that sublimated fabrics tend to be lightweight and are therefore not usually durable enough to withstand the rough and tumble of football. (Although this, too, is gradually beginning to change thanks to improvements in performance fabrics.) Likewise, Duke's Sporting Goods, which operates one location each in Elizabethtown and Bowling Green, KY, is seeing that more customers – particularly travel teams – are asking for sublimated uniforms. "Travel baseball is number one in subli- mation, followed by soccer and volleyball. There's also strong demand from wrestling, track and cross-country teams," says Duke's manager Tony Carter. "Vendors are making sublimation consumer-friendly and have great uniform builders on their sites. Customers can create the uniforms they want using the builders and then get the products from Duke's, which makes the entire process easy for everyone." Custom and More Custom At Altamonte Springs, FL-based Good Sports, VP Mike Cooley especially likes the fact that teams can get very custom with sublimation, it's easy to get a fill-in from the manufacturer when needed and the garments typically last longer than traditional screenprinted products. But the durability can also be a disadvantage, because that means there is less need for frequent replacement. "We don't get year-over-year orders from schools because the jerseys last longer and some traditionalists still like tackle twill," he says. Good Sports outsources sublimation through its vendors and the biggest customers are travel ball teams and high school baseball and basketball programs. "We ser vice a mixture of clubs and schools, many of which are getting away from traditional tackle twill. Sublimation is lightweight, which is particularly good for Florida weather," Cooley says. "We expect sublimation to increase in the high school and college ranks, but we're not sure if it will catch on with Little League teams. We believe it will translate into other areas such as travel tops for bands." At Billings Sports in Meriden, CT, subli- mation is utilized in every sport. COO Mike Billings notes that one big advantage is that a sublimated shirt costs one price, no matter what's done to it, and the colors are always right. Moreover, next-level sublimation-friendly fabrics have a more "cottony" feel, making them ideal for fanwear and athleisure products. In many instances, Billings believes that it's just as fast to utilize sublimation as it is to use screenprinting or transfers, but sublimation is easier and cheaper. "Sublimation is the future and it will expand. However, sublimation is now a commodity — you can order that same shirt online from 10 different places, so it's easy to get shopped around," he says. Interestingly, Billings Sports has decided to align itself more with printing than with team via its new Imprintz business that includes online fan gear shops and corporate online stores. "Imprintz is bringing in business off the street that we had never gotten before. Lots of teams are now looking to screenprint- ers rather than team dealers for uniforms, so this is helping our business," explains Billings. "Conversely, there are now more new team dealers coming from the screenprinting business." He reports that with a new showroom Billings has picked up 30 customers. The front of the showroom houses less team gear and more corporate products and is an expanding POWER 50 • January 2021 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com TEAM / APPAREL TRANSFERS OF

• Cover