PEOPLE
+++ Kris Kuster, newly appointed CEO of Sport Obermeyer hired Michelle Hollingsworth as Product Creative Director, Garrett Waldron as Chief Operations Officer and Sam Minassian as Chief Growth Officer.
+++ Brunt Workwear has hired Scott Roberts, previously at Nike for 15 years and most recently Head of Merchandising for the Columbia brand, as Chief Merchandising Officer, Footwear News has reported
+++ The 194th Congress of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in Kigali, Rwanda, on Sept. 25 saw the reelection of David Lappartient for a third four-year term as President
+++ Lucy Ham joins Inov8 as new UK Head of Sales having previously worked at Adidas, The North Face, Nike and Puma
+++ Stephanie Phair, the former President of Farfetch Group and the British Fashion Council (BFC), has joined private equity firm L Catterton as Senior Advisor
+++ The Professional Padel Association (PPA) has appointed Federico Chingotto President +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ Decathlon has become the official supplier of sporting goods to Spain’s paralympic federations – namely, the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Blind (FEDC), the Spanish Federation of Persons with Physical Disabilities (FEDDF), the Spanish Federation of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (FEDDI) and the Spanish Federation for Persons with Cerebral Palsy and Cerebral Injury (FEDPC)
DISTRIBUTION
+++ Castore has signed with UK-based Specialist Sports a multi-year golf distribution partnership to start in spring/summer 2026 +++
RETAIL
+++ French specialist retailer Terre de Running is aiming to reach 54 stores by the end of the year, Sport Guide has reported
+++ The Canadian lifestyle brand Roots opened its newest flagship in Vancouver and launched its first-ever pilot concept store in Toronto.
+++ French retailer Ekosport and the Arkose climbing gyms have agreed to a partnership to provide exclusive benefits to each other’s customers, first in Paris and later throughout France
+++ Sergio Tacchini launches its AW25 collection in Selfridges, London.
+++ London Designer Outlet has added Columbia and New Era as the latest brands at the destination in Wembley +++
COMMUNITY
+++ The UK government will be investing (€28.6m) to expand its network of Youth Hubs, which provide work and training support in community settings, with football clubs across the UK signing up to help +++
EVENTS
+++ India and Nigeria have submitted formal proposals to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games, an edition that will mark the multi-sport event’s centenary
+++ Spanish sports retailer Deporvillage, according to Diffusion Sport, will be sponsoring the next Venice Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 26
+++ FIFA has unveiled the trophy for the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup, which will take place in the Philippines from Nov. 21 to Dec. 7 +++
PRODUCT
+++ Alo is teaming up with NBA star Jimmy Butler for its first sneaker collaboration, Footwear News has reported +++
BRANDS
+++ Puma releases new podcast about football jerseys
+++ Spanish sportswear brand Joma has signed 24-year-old Nigerian sprinter Alaba Akintola as its first African athlete ambassador
+++ Double D, the exclusive global licensee for Adidas in combat sports, has become premium partner and master supplier of ju-jitsu equipment through a new partnership with the International Ju-Jitsu Federation (JJIF)
+++ Marc O’Polo have announced a partnership with the German national football teams
+++ Skechers has extended its agreement with Oman Cricket as official team partner
+++ Fashion brand Mango has announced Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud as the new global ambassador for Mango Man
+++ Smart wearables brand Kospet has made American middle-distance runner and Olympic champion Cole Hocker a brand ambassador +++
+++ Nike is honoring the legacy of Virgil Abloh at the “Codes” exhibition in Europe, marking a significant cultural moment for the brand and reinforcing its focus on innovation and design leadership +++
CORPORATE
+++ The new Journeys Global Retail Group will bring together US-based Journeys, the U.K.-based schuh and Canada’s Little Burgundy under a unified leadership structure.
+++ Rival, a provider of a fan engagement platform for gaming competitions, closed a $2.8 million funding round and acquired Shake, a remote provider of a social games platform.
+++ Fininvest, the holding company of the Berlusconi family, has finalized the sale of an 80 percent stake in Italian football club AC Monza to US investment firm Beckett Layne Ventures (BLV), with the remaining 20 percent to be sold to BLV by June 2026
+++ Wellnest Society has acquired the French fitness club network Cercles de la Forme
+++ Retired French runners Christophe Lemaître and Pierre Ambroise Bosse have acquired a stake in Bomolet, a brand specialized in running socks made in France
+++ Two of the Buss family brothers, Joey and Jesse Buss, are launching a sports investment firm, Buss Sports Capital
+++ French luxury conglomerate LVMH has reportedly reached an agreement to acquire Challenges, as the business weekly magazine’s majority shareholder, Claude Pedriel, has announced to the AFP
+++ California-based Full Swing, the official licensed simulator of the PGA TOUR, has opened its first EMEA showroom in Wokingham, UK, giving golfers in the EMEA region direct access to its products
+++ In keeping with its rapid growth across all channels over the past two years, Topo Athletic, part of Designer Brands, will be expanding its headquarters to a new office space at 39 Grant St., Suite 300, in Framingham, Massachusetts +++
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