Champion (sportswear)

Champion
Subsidiary
Industry Textile
Founded 1919 (1919)[1]
Headquarters Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Number of locations
 34 stores[2]
Area served
 North America, Europe & Asia
Products Clothing, Sportswear, Footwear
Parent HanesBrands Inc.
Website champion.com

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 Inc. (based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), which was spun off by the Sara Lee Corporation. The company was originally based in Rochester, New York, prior to its acquisition by Sara Lee.[1]

"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]. Champion 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 produced uniforms for all the NBA teams during the 1990s, and some NFL teams during the 1980s and 1990s. It has also produced sportswear for many major colleges.[5] Champion was also the kit manufacturer of the Olympic basketball team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics.[4]

From 2008, Champion produced kits for Premier League side, Wigan Athletic, the Wales national football team and the jersey of the Greek basketball team,[6] 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.[7]

Sponsorships

Champion has manufactured and provided kit uniforms for the following teams and associations:

Current sponsorships

Basketball

Associations
National teams
Club teams

Lacrosse

Past sponsorships

American/Canadian football

Basketball

Soccer

Merchandising licensed manufacturer

The following is a list of the products made by the company in the licensed sports business:

Replica jerseys

  • Canada United States NBA – all teams (1990–2002)
  • United States NFL – all teams (1980s–2000)
  • United States XFL – all teams (2001)

References

  1. 1 2 Sara Lee Adds Champion Sportswear To Wardrobe by Janet Key, The Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb 1989
  2. ↑ List of Champion stores
  3. ↑ https://theidleman.com/manual/arrivals/brands/the-history-of-champion/
  4. 1 2 About us on Champion-eu website
  5. ↑ JARochNY (2010-10-21), Abraham and William Feinbloom, Champion Products, Inc., retrieved 2018-06-05
  6. ↑ Champion presents the new Greek national basketball team jersey Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ FIBA global partners, retrieved 31 Aug 2014
  9. ↑ Cyprus Basketball Federation, http://www.basketball.org.cy/, Retrieved 1 October 2015. (in Greek)
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