Super Show offers niche appeal, yet still gets major manufacturers - new sporting goods - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, Feb 11, 2002 by Mike Troy

LAS VEGAS -- Although the Super Show can't boast the attendance it once did, and many categories are no longer represented, the show remains a valuable venue, primarily for spotting trends and finding unique items from lesser-known suppliers. A few major suppliers also still use it to launch new items.

This was the case with Spalding Sports. The company is responsible for the most significant development to hit the team sports category in the last several years and is calling it "the Infusion Explosion."

Last year, Spalding introduced its unique self-inflating Infusion basketball with a tiny built-in pump that eliminates the need for a needle. The item achieved first-year sales of $19 million and became the category's best-selling basketball, according to president and ceo Jim Craigie.

This year, the company took the Infusion self-inflating technology and applied it to a new line of footballs, soccer balls, volleyballs and additional basketballs.

"[Kids] will want every ball we make," Craigie said. A $4 million advertising campaign will "create an unbelievable buzz for this new lineup."

In addition to the Infusion, the basketball category overall appears to have a lot going for it in the upcoming season. The National Basketball Association reached a new deal with ABC, ESPN and AOL Time Warner that will result in increased television exposure for the league. And from a product standpoint, New Balance has expanded its lineup of value-priced basketball shoes, and Huffy has a new deal to manufacture a line of basketball goals under the Classic Sports brand that contain high-end features not typically found on products costing less than $500.

"Our plan is for sales to be up a good amount this year as we take share from our competitors," said Pat Ehren, Huffy's vp of marketing and product development. The company's products fit with the trend of staying at home that emerged after the Sept. 11 attacks. "People are saying, 'Lets not take a trip to Disney, let's stay home and play basketball."'

This trend also extended to the indoor games category, where manufacturers reported a strong finish to the year. One particularly strong area, at least for Sportcraft, was air-powered hockey.

"We expect we are going to sell as much hockey as foosball this year, and this would be the first year that's ever happened," said David Rossi, Sportcraft's director of marketing.

He attributed this shift to improvements in product quality and the fact that households that already own a foosball table also are buying air-powered hockey. From a new product standpoint, the company introduced a fun table game under the working title of rebound shuffleboard. It is similar to the shuffleboard game found in bars, where players slide heavy metal disks along a slick wooden platform. Sportcraft bent the table at a sharp angle and added a pool table-type bumper to create a game that is simple to play and easier to fit in a game room.

One of the coolest products at the show had to be Trailskate from Richland, Wash.-based GateSkate. This hybrid in-line skate features bindings that fit over a user's shoe and are mounted to an 18-inch ski. Affixed to each end of the ski is an inflatable wheel the size of a small dinner plate. TrailSkate is designed to go over smooth or rough surfaces, such as asphalt, dirt and grass. A company spokesman said the product is suggested to sell for $349 and will begin shipping in April.

Although rather expensive and heavy at 12.5 pounds, TrailSkate has brought innovation to the wheeled category since it is not just a souped-up in-line skate. Several years ago, Rollerblade went this route when it introduced a product called the Coyote, which was essentially an in-line skate with three large diameter wheels.

The Super Show has seen participation decline the past five years in much the same way many trade shows have diminished in importance. However, major retailers, including Dicks Sporting Goods and Gart Sports, send large contingents. Major suppliers, such as Wilson, Franklin and Russell, were also prominent at the show.

The same can not b said of other suppliers, such as Nike, Reebok, Icon Health and Fitness. Nike sponsored a reception the evening before the show, while Reebok reportedly held meetings at the Bellagio Hotel near the Sands Expo Center. Icon's presence at the show was hard to describe. The company had products at the show, but they were in a room on the lower level of the convention center behind closed doors.

It is a situation far from the days when these companies invested heavily in the snow, and it sprawled throughout the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta and attracted m re than 100,000 at attendees.

"The year 2001 turned out t be as difficult for the sporting goods industry as it was for most other American businesses," John Riddle, president and ceo of the Sporting Goods Manufacturer Association said in his state-of-the-industry report. "As we stand o the threshold of 2002, the immediate future looks only marginally better."