A Fountain Valley sports products firm has made a special connection with New England Patriots star Julian Edelman.
About 50 youth football players, which included students from powerhouses Mater Dei High School, JSerra Catholic High School and St. John Bosco High School, watched wide receiver Edelman pick up the “Greatest Grip Award” at a ceremony this month at the headquarters of United Sports Brands.
“To go out and compete with my teammates and to win a Super Bowl again, there’s no other feeling like it and that’s why you play the game,” Edelman told the students. “But it doesn’t recognize the hard work, the determination and the sacrifice that you have to give to put yourself in that position.”
Edelman is the latest victory for United Sports Brands, which generates $200 million annually managing a portfolio of sporting goods brands sold in 65 countries. Its products, with names like Shock Doctor, McDavid, Cutters, XO Athletic and Nathan, range from mouth guards and hydration packs to knee braces and compression sleeves.
It signed Edelman in 2017 to promote his personal brand, JE11, for its Cutters line of gloves for football players.
The move paid off in February when he was named most valuable player in the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams, hauling in 10 catches for 141 yards.
United Sports’ other notable partnerships include ones with Golden State Warriors center Demarcus Cousins and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, and one with the NBA, since 2016, making its Shock Doctor the league’s official mouth guard.
Combining Brands
United Sports Brands was formed in 2015, when Minnetonka, Minn.-based Shock Doctor Sports and McDavid Inc., based near Chicago, combined operations.
Reports said Shock Doctor’s backers took on about $205 million in debt to fund the deal.
United Sports is owned by New York private equity firm Bregal Partners, which has about $1.3 billion in committed capital and invests $20 million to $150 million to grow firms with $5 million to $75 million of adjusted profit.
United Sports closed its Chicago offices and kept a Minnesota base until 2016, when it moved to Fountain Valley for the area’s athletic talent and the ability to play outdoor sports year-round, then-Chief Executive Tony Armand told the Business Journal.
Its layout here is about 130,000 square feet of corporate, warehouse and distribution space at Slater Avenue and Newhope Street. Neighbors include Pedego Electric Bikes and Kingston Technology. It employs 200 here in OC and another 50 or so in Japan, Canada and Belgium.
What Kids Like
Michael Magerman, who took over for Armand in 2018, said at the event this month that one reason they’ve been able to thrive is that Southern California is a “hotbed of great athletes” at the youth level.
“We do stuff nationally,” Magerman said referring to events it sponsors like the Boston Marathon, but the company is most active in local environs: “The interesting things we’re doing aren’t as interesting with companies as it is with the community,” including events like the one honoring Edelman.
“We’re involved in a lot of those programs and events, helping to support” young athletes, Magerman said.
“We also make products available to them and get to see what kids like, what they don’t like, and that helps [us] develop new products, as well.”
United backs competitions featuring top-level, local players such as the 4Vert 7on7 Football Championship at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine and the Ball Is Life All-American Game in Long Beach Convention Center.
The latter showcases in May some of the nation’s top high school basketball players, including ESPN’s No. 2-ranked player Cole Anthony and Onyeka Okongwu, who has committed to play at USC.
United also sponsors or promotes its products at recreational events like the Fountain Valley Fit Body Boot Camp 5K and the Reebok Ragnar So Cal, an event held earlier this month that was a relay race mostly along the coast from Huntington Beach to San Diego.
“All our ambassadors have started as athletes who used our product,” Magerman said. “They came to us after being users, supporters and advocates of the brand.”
Long Drive
Magerman’s sporting goods industry ties date to the 1990s when he founded Odyssey Sports Inc., a maker of golf putters, which was sold to Carlsbad-based Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) in 1997 for $130 million.
He joined with Bregal in 2014 to invest in consumer brands, with the latter committing $100 million. He worked on deals as a senior adviser for three years and served on United Sports’ board before becoming CEO.
He’s been adding staff since, including marketing chief Candi Whitsel, who’s worked for Bell Sports and Seal Beach-based TYR Sport Inc. and brand director Nicole O’Keefe, who previously worked at Under Armour (NYSE: UA).
