Fine 'tooning' cross-licensing - sale of products which use both sports figures and cartoon characters

Discount Store News, August 2, 1993

The Tasmanian Devil is no Troy Aikman, but when teamed up with the Dallas Cowboys quarterback he's really fired up.

The game is cross-licensing of pro sports and cartoon characters, and it's "just phenomenal," says Gary Robson, vice president of children's wear for Kmart, adding that Warner Bros. Looney Tunes is leading the charge, with price points starting at $5.99. "It's a natural. We plan to go after it in an aggressive manner."

Withe several combinations of seasonal sports and engaging characters from which to choose, retailers love the long-running demand cross-licensing offers. Right through to spring, says Bruce Freeman, boys' buyer for Quincy, Ill.-based Jack's Discount Stores, cross-licensed products "have to be at the top of our list." He and other merchants say the character-and-sports items seem to gravitate into shopper's hands even though they usually aren't highlighted in separate displays.

"Tie the Tasmanian Devil (or Taz, as the teen animal is now called) with the Buffalo Bills, and it's hotter than a pistol," says Tom Via, divisional merchandise manager for girl's, infants and toddlers for Canton, Mass.-based Hills Department Stores.

Peter Lapointe, a spokesman for NFL Properties, says: "The hot ticket now is cross-licensing. We're hearing a good response at retail, even though it's a tough market out there."

Cross-licensing lifted off with Nike's "Hare Jordan" 1992 Superbowl TV commercial featuring the Chicago Bulls star and an unlikely court opponent, Bugs Bunny.

Although cross-licensing is pushing apparel sales, it takes serious training to carry retailers clearly through the goldposts, and some players want no part of the task.

It can take up a lot of time, requiring merchants to sift through the dozens of licensees who offer different combinations of licensed apparel. Warner alone has licensed 28 apparel manufacturers who produce goods for professional hockey, football and baseball and for collegiate sports.

"From the buyers standpoint it's very time consuming," explains Jeff Clair, divisional merchandise manager for boys' wear at Braintree, Mass.-based Bradlees. Nevertheless, the sports-and-cartoon trend is accounting for an increasing percentage of boy's wear merchandise at Bradlees and is meeting an "aggressive" plan set for cross-licensing, despite poor boy's sales this year.

Cross-licensing is "crossing all age barriers" and is strong in juniors and men's as well as boys', Clair says. "We've even got Looney Tunes and baseball on boxer shorts."

Despite Bradlees' baseball successes, however, cross-licensing hasn't played to its full potential in the nation's favorite pastime, even though the market for sports-licensed apparel is sizable. In 1992, industry estimates put apparel licensed by the NFL at $2.6 billion, by baseball at $2.4 billion, basketball at $1.8 billion, and hockey at $800 million. That was up from corresponding 1991 figures of $2 billion each for football and baseball, $1.4 billion for basketball and $600 million for hockey.

Carolanne Dunn, national accounts manager for Major League Baseball Properties, says cross-licensing is a "relatively small portion of our business" but one that nicely rounds out its apparel lines. "We see it as an opportunity to offer retail customers something new and different," she says, adding that MLBP prefers classic cartoon characters from Peanuts, Looney Tunes and King Features that, "like baseball, are all a part of American culture."

And for all the hoopla over how cross-licensing was bounced high off the Jordan/Bugs Bunny commercial, it ironically hasn't even neared its potential yet with professional basketball. Vendors blame a cross-licensing stalemate involving Warner Bros. and the NBA.

While "Hare Jordan" has spurred sales of cross-licensed footwear as well as an assortment of casual apparel--even at discount stores that don't carry Nike products--the NBA and Warner Bros. haven't given any clear of when, or even if, they'll sign a cross-licensing agreement. The Hare Jordan campaign is part of a Warner/Nike contract; Nike also has the exclusive rights to the images of scores of NBA players but not to team logos.

"We know (cross-licensing) is a hot property right now, but our discussions are still ongoing with Warner and other possible properties," says Susan Kotin, director of licensing for children's consumer apparel products for NBA Properties. She adds that NBA Properties doesn't expect Nike's rights to players' team-logo-less images (which Nike acquired independently of NBA Properties) to have any impact on the NBA's plans for cross-licensing with Warner as well as other possible partners, such as Hanna-Barbera for the Flinstones and MGM for the Pink Panther.

"The NBA wants to do this, and I think it will happen," says Chuck Finkelstein, vice president of sales for New York City-based manufacturer Changes, which is a major player in cross-licensing involving Warner and the professional leagues for baseball, football and hockey. "It probably will be a hot category for us; it's just a matter of time."