duncan228
11-24-2009, 12:54 PM
Senator urges Adidas to keep NBA uniforms in USA (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nba-uniforms&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By Sam Hananel
The official uniforms for NBA players could soon be made in Asia.
Sports apparel maker Adidas plans to end its contract with American suppliers and move production to a factory in Thailand. The move could cost about 100 jobs at a factory in upstate New York that makes more than half the uniforms worn by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and other NBA players.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the move would destroy over a century of history for the marquee American sport. He is calling on Adidas to reverse its decision and to keep making the uniforms in the USA.
“To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America,” the New York Democrat said.
The longtime New York Knicks fan planned a news conference later Tuesday at American Classic Outfitters, the Perry, N.Y., supplier that has been making NBA jerseys for 40 years.
Adidas is in the middle of an 11-year merchandising deal to be the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, WNBA and the NBA Development League. Representatives at Adidas and the NBA did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
NBA players’ jerseys have always been manufactured in the United States.
Rob Knoll, senior vice president at American Classic Outfitters, said his company had a multiyear contract to make professional basketball uniforms for Adidas. But last month, he said, Adidas officials told him they were moving operations overseas. The New York plant had invested more than $1 million in facility improvements and equipment to produce the jerseys.
“It’s a blow because the work that was in house and scheduled for production is gone now,” Knoll said. “If they want to change their mind, we’d love it.”
Adidas also had contracts with two other U.S. companies to make the official NBA jerseys.
German-owned Adidas is the second largest athletic shoe and apparel company in the world. Its U.S. subsidiary, Adidas America, has its U.S. headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
********************
US moves to keep Thai-bound jersey-making jobs: report (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=afp-basketnbathauniforms&prov=afp&type=lgns)
A small-town factory that produces about half the jerseys worn by NBA players could lose those jobs to lower-cost manufacturing centers in Thailand, the Buffalo News reported Tuesday.
American Classic Outfitters of Perry, New York, has made NBA uniforms for 40 years and employs about 100 people in making uniforms for Adidas that are worn by such stars as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal.
US Senator Charles Schumer wants Adidas to keep its relationship with the plant east of Buffalo and two other US outfitters rather than ship the jobs off to Thailand.
"It is flat wrong for Adidas to take away the production of game-day NBA jerseys from the company and workers who have done so well for the NBA for so long," Schumer said in a statement Tuesday.
"And to do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury."
Adidas has told American Classic that it will cancel a seven-year deal signed last year to produce NBA jerseys, Schumer said, noting American Classic spent one million dollars in factory improvements to meet the contract terms.
Schumer claims it will be the first time in NBA history that league players have worn uniforms made outside US plants if the Thailand move comes to pass by German-owned Adidas, the world's second-largest shoe and sport apparel firm.
American Classic also makes all jerseys for the Women's NBA and the NBA's development league, Schumer said.
"Basketball is a marquee American sport and the NBA is its premier stage," Schumer said. "A short-sighted decision to destroy over 100 years of history by moving production of game day jerseys overseas just cannot stand.
"The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the USA, plain and simple.
"To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America."
By Sam Hananel
The official uniforms for NBA players could soon be made in Asia.
Sports apparel maker Adidas plans to end its contract with American suppliers and move production to a factory in Thailand. The move could cost about 100 jobs at a factory in upstate New York that makes more than half the uniforms worn by Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and other NBA players.
Sen. Chuck Schumer said the move would destroy over a century of history for the marquee American sport. He is calling on Adidas to reverse its decision and to keep making the uniforms in the USA.
“To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America,” the New York Democrat said.
The longtime New York Knicks fan planned a news conference later Tuesday at American Classic Outfitters, the Perry, N.Y., supplier that has been making NBA jerseys for 40 years.
Adidas is in the middle of an 11-year merchandising deal to be the official uniform and apparel provider for the NBA, WNBA and the NBA Development League. Representatives at Adidas and the NBA did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
NBA players’ jerseys have always been manufactured in the United States.
Rob Knoll, senior vice president at American Classic Outfitters, said his company had a multiyear contract to make professional basketball uniforms for Adidas. But last month, he said, Adidas officials told him they were moving operations overseas. The New York plant had invested more than $1 million in facility improvements and equipment to produce the jerseys.
“It’s a blow because the work that was in house and scheduled for production is gone now,” Knoll said. “If they want to change their mind, we’d love it.”
Adidas also had contracts with two other U.S. companies to make the official NBA jerseys.
German-owned Adidas is the second largest athletic shoe and apparel company in the world. Its U.S. subsidiary, Adidas America, has its U.S. headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
********************
US moves to keep Thai-bound jersey-making jobs: report (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=afp-basketnbathauniforms&prov=afp&type=lgns)
A small-town factory that produces about half the jerseys worn by NBA players could lose those jobs to lower-cost manufacturing centers in Thailand, the Buffalo News reported Tuesday.
American Classic Outfitters of Perry, New York, has made NBA uniforms for 40 years and employs about 100 people in making uniforms for Adidas that are worn by such stars as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming and Shaquille O'Neal.
US Senator Charles Schumer wants Adidas to keep its relationship with the plant east of Buffalo and two other US outfitters rather than ship the jobs off to Thailand.
"It is flat wrong for Adidas to take away the production of game-day NBA jerseys from the company and workers who have done so well for the NBA for so long," Schumer said in a statement Tuesday.
"And to do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury."
Adidas has told American Classic that it will cancel a seven-year deal signed last year to produce NBA jerseys, Schumer said, noting American Classic spent one million dollars in factory improvements to meet the contract terms.
Schumer claims it will be the first time in NBA history that league players have worn uniforms made outside US plants if the Thailand move comes to pass by German-owned Adidas, the world's second-largest shoe and sport apparel firm.
American Classic also makes all jerseys for the Women's NBA and the NBA's development league, Schumer said.
"Basketball is a marquee American sport and the NBA is its premier stage," Schumer said. "A short-sighted decision to destroy over 100 years of history by moving production of game day jerseys overseas just cannot stand.
"The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the USA, plain and simple.
"To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America."