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Senator Schumer urges Adidas to maintain jersey production at Perry
26 Nov '09
3 min read
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed that shoe and apparel giant Adidas—which has an exclusive contract with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to supply the league's teams with their official uniforms—plans to end its contract with a New York-based supplier and will for the first time produce the game-day jerseys worn by NBA players at facilities outside of the USA.
Schumer today called on Adidas to reverse this flawed decision and continue to make NBA jerseys in the United States – a move that could save approximately 100 jobs in Perry, NY, and many more across the country. Schumer pointed to Perry's 40-year history of producing official jerseys – including the jerseys worn by Michael Jordan and the rest of the 1992 Dream Team – and said that outsourcing the jerseys worn by top US athletes would not only hurt hundreds of American employees, but basketball fans across the country -- and the NBA brand.
Schumer said that approximately 50% of the NBA jerseys worn by players during official league games are made at the Perry facility, as well as all WNBA game day jerseys and all jerseys worn by players in the NBA's development league. Schumer said Adidas is in the middle of a seven-year contract with ACO, but has decided to ditch this contract and manufacture all these jerseys overseas, at a factory in Thailand. This move would deprive the US of a line of business worth $7 million per year.
“It is flat wrong for Adidas to move the production of jerseys worn by NBA players outside the United States when there are U.S. companies that have done this work so well and for so long,” said Schumer. “And to do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury. Basketball is a marquee American sport and the NBA is its premier stage. A short-sighted decision to destroy over a hundred years of history by moving production of game jerseys overseas just cannot stand. The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the U.S.A, plain and simple. From outfitting the original Dream Team to LeBron James to the WNBA, the workers right here in New York have produced a first-class product that has been a vital part of the sport's growing popularity. To cut them off from the future growth of the sport is flat wrong. Adidas must do the right thing and reverse this decision, and continue to produce all these jerseys domestically at ACO. To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America.”
American Classic Outfitters (ACO) has a rich American history of designing and manufacturing custom athletic uniforms for sports teams at all levels of play, including the NBA. ACO has been making NBA jerseys for nearly half a century at the facility in Perry, NY. The company prides itself in its long-established tradition of hand-crafting quality team uniforms.
In 2008, ACO secured a long-term contract with Adidas to become its exclusive provider of customized sports apparel. As a result of winning the contract with Adidas, American Classic Outfitters invested over $1 million in facility improvements and equipment to produce the game day jerseys for the NBA. Recently, Adidas announced that they are going to move operations overseas, despite being in the middle of a five year contract. The move puts the more than 100 jobs at the ACO facility in Perry, at risk and could significantly impact the local economy.
In an effort to preserve the jobs at ACO, Schumer urged Adidas to maintain jersey production at the facility.
Schumer today called on Adidas to reverse this flawed decision and continue to make NBA jerseys in the United States – a move that could save approximately 100 jobs in Perry, NY, and many more across the country. Schumer pointed to Perry's 40-year history of producing official jerseys – including the jerseys worn by Michael Jordan and the rest of the 1992 Dream Team – and said that outsourcing the jerseys worn by top US athletes would not only hurt hundreds of American employees, but basketball fans across the country -- and the NBA brand.
Schumer said that approximately 50% of the NBA jerseys worn by players during official league games are made at the Perry facility, as well as all WNBA game day jerseys and all jerseys worn by players in the NBA's development league. Schumer said Adidas is in the middle of a seven-year contract with ACO, but has decided to ditch this contract and manufacture all these jerseys overseas, at a factory in Thailand. This move would deprive the US of a line of business worth $7 million per year.
“It is flat wrong for Adidas to move the production of jerseys worn by NBA players outside the United States when there are U.S. companies that have done this work so well and for so long,” said Schumer. “And to do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury. Basketball is a marquee American sport and the NBA is its premier stage. A short-sighted decision to destroy over a hundred years of history by moving production of game jerseys overseas just cannot stand. The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the U.S.A, plain and simple. From outfitting the original Dream Team to LeBron James to the WNBA, the workers right here in New York have produced a first-class product that has been a vital part of the sport's growing popularity. To cut them off from the future growth of the sport is flat wrong. Adidas must do the right thing and reverse this decision, and continue to produce all these jerseys domestically at ACO. To do anything else is an insult to the American worker and sports fans everywhere in America.”
American Classic Outfitters (ACO) has a rich American history of designing and manufacturing custom athletic uniforms for sports teams at all levels of play, including the NBA. ACO has been making NBA jerseys for nearly half a century at the facility in Perry, NY. The company prides itself in its long-established tradition of hand-crafting quality team uniforms.
In 2008, ACO secured a long-term contract with Adidas to become its exclusive provider of customized sports apparel. As a result of winning the contract with Adidas, American Classic Outfitters invested over $1 million in facility improvements and equipment to produce the game day jerseys for the NBA. Recently, Adidas announced that they are going to move operations overseas, despite being in the middle of a five year contract. The move puts the more than 100 jobs at the ACO facility in Perry, at risk and could significantly impact the local economy.
In an effort to preserve the jobs at ACO, Schumer urged Adidas to maintain jersey production at the facility.
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
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