LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ David Lappartient will continue his mandate as president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) until spring 2025 after being confirmed in the role by the body’s General Assembly
+++ TikTok has been fined €345 million for violating data protection laws for processing children’s personal data in the European Union +++
MARKET STATISTICS
+++ Europe remained the largest market for Bangladesh’s apparel exports from January to May 2023, despite an 11.86 percent dip due to inflation, with trousers and shorts as the dominant export items +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Rising 27-year-old triathlete Leon Chevalier of France, who finished 7th at the 2022 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, and more recently won Ironman South Africa in March of this year, has signed with Arena
+++ Canterbury has extended its kit sponsorship of the Irish Rugby Football Union for another four years until the end of the 2028 season
+++ Italian teamwear brand Macron is the new official match ball partner of the Swiss Football League in a new five-year agreement
+++ ZipFit, a family-owned manufacturer of high-quality ski boot liners, has announced its first major partnership as an original equipment manufacturer for the Fischer RC4 Pro boot
+++ Centr, a health and wellness company founded by actor Chris Hemsworth, announced the introduction of 27 new products, which include curated fitness kits (Core, Strength, Recovery, Workout) and strength training equipment that are now available in the USA on walmart.com and in 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide
+++ Venezuelan triathlete turned runner Joselyn Brea Abreu and American mid-distance runner Sam Ellis have joined the Swiss sportswear company On’s team of track runners
+++ Having first been introduced during the brand’s SS2023 show at Paris Fashion Week this season, Adidas Originals and Craig Green have returned to present two takes on the iconic Stan Smith, the CG Boost Stan and the CG Split Stan
+++ Functional footwear and workwear specialist Haix is the new sponsoring partner of FC Bayern Munich’s basketball players +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ On Sept. 10, having declined a motion of censure, the Spanish Royal Federation for Football (RFEF) confirmed the resignation of Luis Rubiales from its chairmanship – FIFA having already suspended him provisionally from the post on Aug. 27
+++ The General Assembly of the European Club Association (ECA), which represents almost 500 clubs in European football, unanimously re-elected Nasser Al-Khelaifi as European Club Association Chairman for the next four years
+++ The Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT) has appointed Giorgio Calculli as its new managing director to replace Federico Pellegata, who has been appointed CEO of ACIMIT Servizi
+++ Alibaba has announced the unexpected departure of former CEO Daniel Zhang, two months after announcing that he would step down as group CEO to take charge of the firm’s new cloud computing unit, now a separate entity
+++ Swim and fitness tech company FORM has announced Christopher Stadler and Kevin Abt as board members and chief revenue officer, respectively
+++ Saucony, a division of Wolverine Worldwide, announced the appointment of Chris Deschenes, most recently Vice President of Sales for The Wolverine Kids Group, as Vice President of U.S. Sales, reporting to Saucony Global Brand President Rob Griffiths
+++ Lululemon Athletica appointed Shane Grant, Group Deputy CEO, CEO of Americas and EVP of dairy, plant-based and global sales at Danone since January 2023, to its Board of Directors, effective Nov. 1, 2023
+++ DPS Skis has expanded its US sales team for Phantom Glide, its permanent, single-application base treatment for skis and snowboards, to include National Sales and Tech Rep Justin Greenbaum
+++ Blizzard-Tecnica has hired ski industry veteran Geoff Curtis, most recently VP of Marketing at Marker Völkl Dalbello USA, as National Sales Manager, responsible for leading the company’s independent sales force to grow the brands in the USA +++
E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ Available in the eBay app for iOS to start, with the Android app to follow in the coming weeks, eBay is rolling out a new AI tool for marketplace sellers that can automatically write a title and description based on a photo and suggest a category, subcategory, list price and shipping cost
+++ After a test last November, TikTok has officially launched its TikTok Shop e-commerce product in the US +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ California-based activewear brand Vuori announced on Instagram that it will open a pop-up in London at 19 Greek Street for a few hours on Sept. 12 to introduce its BlissBlend collection
+++ Premier League club Liverpool FC has renewed its retail partnership in Dubai with Seventy8 Sports for a third term
+++ Nike has decided to permanently close its factory store in Portland, Oregon, which opened in 1984 and was temporarily closed last fall because of high theft and security problems
+++ Adidas has opened its remodeled 1,400-sqm Home of Sport concept store in the Tsim Sha Tsui shopping and nightlife district in Kowloon, Hong Kong
+++ Indonesian Reebok partner PT Mitra has opened two new stores in Jakarta at Pondok Indah Mall and Kota Kasablanka Shopping Center +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ Apple announced it would ban the use of leather for all its accessories, including watch straps and mobile phone cases
+++ Intersport Germany and SOS-Kinderdorf e.V. (SOS Children’s Villages) are strengthening their partnership, which has already been in place since 2017 and involves joint projects to introduce children and young people to sport, fulfill special sporting wishes and create new sporting opportunities +++
TECHNOLOGY
+++ Pinterest has launched an industry-first AI technology for body types to improve how bodies are displayed on its platform for users in the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand before expanding to other international markets
+++ GameOn, a next-gen fantasy sports platform partnered with the world’s best sports leagues to launch, operate, and monetize Web3 games, today announces a deal with LaLiga North America, the world’s most-followed soccer league on social media
+++ WhatsApp’s Channels, a feature reminiscent of Instagram’s Broadcast Channels, is now rolling out globally in more than 150 countries +++
CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Canadian Tire Corporation announced the pricing of a private placement offering of C$600 million aggregate principal amount of unsecured medium-term notes, consisting of C$400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.372% Series G Unsecured Medium Term Notes due Sept. 16, 2030, and C$200 million aggregate principal amount of Floating Rate Series H Unsecured Medium Term Notes due Sept. 14, 2026
+++ German footwear company Birkenstock Holding filed for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission +++
