PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Helly Hansen is the new official clothing partner of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in St. Moritz, equipping the entire OC team and the volunteers with garments
+++ The state-owned Saudi oil company Aramco is, according to The Times, about to sign a sponsorship deal that will deliver an annual $100 million to Fifa (more than any other sponsor) and run at least through 2034, the year Saudi Arabia is to host the World Cup
+++ Hydro Flask, a Helen of Troy brand, is the official supplier of insulated flasks to the German national ski teams, including athletes, coaches and supervisors
+++ Hoka, a division of Deckers Brands, has unveiled its latest partnership with Paris-based performance brand Satisfy for a new, collaborative version of the iconic Hoka Clifton LS: the Hoka x Satisfy Clifton LS
+++ Ortovox has released a new software update 2.1 for the Diract Voice and Diract avalanche transceivers
+++ Decathlon has launched the first product, Adult Ski Socks, of its long-term partnership with Celliant infrared technology from Hologenix, introduced in its Wedze range of ski and snowboarding socks
+++ Firewire Surfboards announced the latest signature surfboard model launch with the 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater under his namesake Slater Designs brand, the Great White Twin in I-Bolic Technology with Volcanic Lamination, available at authorized surf shops and online stores globally
+++ Mumbai-based Suditi Sports Apparel and the US National Basketball Association (NBA) have announced a multi-year expansion of their merchandising collaboration, providing NBA fans with a broad range of officially licensed fan merchandise through Suditi’s DTC platform ShopTheArena.com and select offline and online retail channels across India
+++ Wolverine Worldwide has licensed the Wolverine brand sock business exclusively to North Carolina-based Renfro Brands, founded in 1921 and holding the sock licenses over 20 sock brands, including Polo, Merrell, Dr. Scholl’s and Hotsox
+++ Hummel and the Danish Football Association (DBU) have entered into a new eight-year agreement under which Hummel will be the supplier of all the Danish national team jerseys until the summer of 2032 as well as for the DBU Football School, referees, and provide an equal-sized tournament bonus for the women’s and men’s national teams
+++ British contemporary label Mallet London and Reebok have partnered for the first time to celebrate the iconic UK music scene of the 1990s and early 2000s with a collaboration that reinterprets the Workout Plus and Classic Leather models, available on mallet.com starting Nov. 30 +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ California-based Arbor Snowboarding, known for its use of sustainable materials in the manufacture of snowboards and bindings, has introduced the BioStrap, incorporating plant-based materials into the brand’s line of snowboard bindings +++
FINANCIAL REPORTING
+++ Alibaba Group announced that second-quarter revenue rose 9 percent to RMB 224.79 billion (€28.92 billion) as the Chinese e-commerce giant has scrapped plans to spin off its cloud business, citing uncertainties created by US export curbs on chips used in artificial intelligence applications
+++ Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos may be selling as many as 8 to 10 million of his company shares, amounting to more than $1 billion, after selling shares worth about $240 million a week earlier, CNBC reported, citing a source +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Óscar Mayo, the Chief Executive of the Spanish football league La Liga since 2021, will leave this role in January to reportedly join Atletico Madrid as chief operating officer
+++ Montréal-based performance apparel and accessories brand Ciele Athletics has hired running industry veteran Scott Gravatt, who previously worked at Nike for 15 years, as Head of Sales for the US and Canada
+++ Shop Eat Surf reports that Reef has hired Michael Minter, previously Global Head of Marketing at DC Shoes for 6 years, as Chief Marketing Officer +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ A new shopping mall with more than 200 shops and superstores, called Merlata Bloom, opened its doors on Nov. 18 near Milan
+++ Select Allbirds models, including the Wool Runner and Tree Runner, are now available on Amazon in a move that is being seen as part of Allbirds’ transformation strategy; including shifting to a distributor model in certain international markets and reconnecting with “core” Allbirds customers
+++ Xponential Fitness, the largest global franchisor of boutique fitness brands, announced the opening of its 3,000th studio, CycleBar Loveland located in Greater Fort Collins, Colorado (USA)
+++ Reebok has opened a new flagship store in the Kammanahalli area of Bangalore, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka
+++ Ahead of schedule, Willy Bogner and the Italian company Cappelletti S.r.L., based in Marche, are extending their license agreement for the Bogner footwear division, which has been in place since November 2010 and includes design and production as well as national and international distribution via Shoe.Mission +++
TRADE FAIRS & CONFERENCES
+++ The British Golf Show is adding an additional northern UK version of the event in Leeds in 2024, scheduled for July 5-6, which will follow the renewal of the show at its usual southern UK location of Wycombe Air Park in Buckinghamshire on May 17-18 +++
