Champion (sportswear)

Champion (or alternatively also stylized as Champion U.S.A.) is an American manufacturer of clothing, specializing in sportswear. The brand is a subsidiary of Hanesbrands (based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), which was spun off by the Sara Lee Corporation in 2006. The company was originally based in Rochester, New York, prior to its acquisition by Sara Lee in 1989.[2]

For other uses, see Champion (disambiguation).
Champion
IndustryTextile, footwear
Founded1919 
Headquarters
Winston-Salem, NC
,
United States
Number of locations
28 stores (2018)[1]
Area served
ProductsClothing, footwear
ParentHanesbrands
Websitechampion.com

Products manufactured and commercialised by Champion include casual wear clothing (t-shirts, hoodies, sweatpants, leggings, shorts, jackets, undergarment), footwear (sandals, sneakers, socks), and accesories (bags, hats, collectibles).

"Champion" is HanesBrands' second-largest brand with the namesake Hanes brand in first place. Other brands owned by HanesBrands Inc. are Playtex (its third-largest brand), Bali, Just My Size, Barely There, Wonderbra, L'eggs, C9 by Champion, Duofold, Beefy-T, Outer Banks, Sol y Oro, Rinbros, Zorba and Ritmo.

History

The company was established in 1919 by the Feinbloom brothers [3] as "Knickerbocker Knitting Company." The company soon signed an agreement with the Michigan Wolverines to produce uniforms for their teams. In the 1930s the company was renamed "Champion Knitting Mills Inc.", producing sweatshirts. Soon after, Champion products would be adopted by the US Military Academy to be used during training exercises and physical education classes.[4]

Champion was acquired by Sara Lee Corporation in 1989.[5] Champion produced uniforms for all the NBA teams during the 1990s and some NFL teams during the 1970s to the 1990s, for both on-field and retail purposes. It has also produced sportswear for many major colleges.[6] Champion was also the kit manufacturer of the Olympic basketball team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics.[4]

From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, it was a very common fashion trend to see girls and guys of all ages wearing Champion sweatshirts over a turtleneck and over jeans with slouch socks and sneakers. Girls of all ages and adults also wore the sweatshirts oversized or extra-long with leggings and slouch socks and athletic sneakers, Keds or boat shoes. Today, Champion is now considered a very well known brand.

From 2008, Champion produced kits for Premier League side, Wigan Athletic, the Wales national football team and the jersey of the Greek basketball team,[7] also Pallacanestro Cantù, in Italy.

For many years Champion supplied the athletic uniforms for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. In 2001 Notre Dame signed a five-year exclusive agreement with Adidas, which ended a partnership Champion had with the university that spanned over 50 years.[8]

Sponsorships

Basketball

Past sponsorships

In the past, Champion manufactured uniforms mostly for basketball and American football teams, most notable its long-time partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) that extended until 2004, when Reebok took over.[10] Champion also sponsored International association FIBA until 2017.[11]

The following is a list of some of them:

American/Canadian football

Association football

Basketball

Lacrosse

Merchandising licenses

Replica jersey uniforms made by Champion in the licensed sports business:

  • NBA – all teams (1990–2002)
  • NFL – all teams (1980s–2000)
  • XFL – all teams (2001)
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References
  1. "Champion stores in the United States". william lyle. 2018. Retrieved 17 Jan 2020.
  2. Key, Janet (14 February 1989). "Sara Lee Adds Champion Sportswear To Wardrobe". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 17 Jan 2020.
  3. "The History of Champion". The Idle Man (Blog). 13 November 2018. Retrieved 17 Jan 2020.
  4. About us on Champion-eu website
  5. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/14/business/champion-products-accepts-bid.html
  6. JARochNY (2010-10-21), Abraham and William Feinbloom, Champion Products, Inc., retrieved 2018-06-05
  7. Champion presents the new Greek national basketball team jersey Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Dame, ENR/PAZ // University Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Adidas allegiance // News // Notre Dame Magazine // University of Notre Dame". magazine.nd.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  9. NBL.com.au. National Basketball League https://nbl.com.au/news/champion-signs-up-as-nbl-on-court-apparel-partner. Retrieved 13 March 2020. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. Reebok signs deal with NBA by Richard Sandomir, NY Times, Aug 2001
  11. FIBA firma alianza estratégica con la icónica marca Nike on FIBA.com, 27 Feb 2017
  12. NFL official uniform suppliers at the Gridiron Uniform Database
  13. REEBOK LANDS $200 MILLION+ NBA DEAL on Adage.com, 2 Aug 2001
  14. Cyprus Basketball Federation, http://www.basketball.org.cy/ Archived 2010-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved 1 October 2015. (in Greek)
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