Month: September 2024

Via Sports Business Journal

Longtime marketing pro Kirta Carroll oversees Legends’ extensive merchandise business, but she didn’t have a direct path to the sports world, first working across industries as varied as health care and luxury fashion. That was until 2011, when Carroll landed at Foot Locker.

Carroll was initially tasked with guiding Foot Locker’s then-nascent efforts with female consumers. She developed marketing strategies and helped roll out custom product launches, including a collaboration between Puma and Rihanna, that ultimately produced record revenue for Foot Locker’s women’s division.

“Hitting that milestone was a really proud moment,” Carroll said. “It was hard, and it took external factors, internal factors, sort of getting the team to believe that we could do it. And being really strategic around how do you grow a segment of the business that is underperforming?”

Carroll spent over a decade at Foot Locker before departing for Legends in August 2022. In leading the Legends Global Merchandise team, comprising more than 1,700 employees around the globe, Carroll oversees relationships with organizations including FIFA, PBR, the PGA and Real Madrid.

She also negotiated Legends’ recent acquisition of AdPro Sports, which strengthened the company’s wholesale and licensing efforts, and led the launch of Legends’ proprietary e-commerce platform. Next up, Carroll is focused on further developing efforts to provide more support for the burgeoning women’s sports space.

“How do we give women’s sports the sort of accelerator that they need from a commercial revenue standpoint?” said Carroll. “We’re starting to see it in some of the partners that we have. … But to me, there’s a lot of upside yet to be had for women’s sports in general, so helping to build that goal forward is something I’m supporting and passionate about.” — Chris Smith

Via Sports Business Journal

By Josh Carpenter

A consistent theme in women’s golf in recent years has been to try and elevate all facets of the game to the same levels experienced by men’s players. From major championship courses to TV windows to shot-tracking data.

This week in Virgnia, the merchandise pavilion at the Solheim Cup is more evidence of that trend.

The Solheim Cup Fan Shop, which is being handled by Legends, spans 10,000 square feet, the largest ever for the event. While not at the same scale as some of the men’s tournaments — the PGA Championship pavilion this year was 50,000 square feet — the structure at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club gives off a big-event feel.

“Our goal here was to partner with the LPGA on what’s the most electrifying event in women’s golf,” said Mike Quirk, the chief commercial officer for Legends Global Merchandise. “We go into all of our relationships just trying to paint that picture for them and extend the story or the brand.”

Legends first signed with the LPGA in the spring of 2023 to manage e-commerce sales as well as the merchandise buildout for the Solheim Cup.

“As women’s sports continues to grow, so are the things that are connected to it,” Quirk said. “The size of the tent warrants the level of the event and the attendance they’ll see this week.”

The pavilion this week is being staffed with about 50 volunteers, four college interns and around 10 Legends employees. Brands inside include Dunning, Imperial, Summit Golf Brands/Zero Restriction for the U.S. team and Ping for the Europeans.

Other collaborations include Malbon Golf, Barstool Sports, Lululemon, G-Fore and New Era.

Merchandise is available for both European and U.S. teams, as well as event-specific items and accessories themed to the Northern Virginia and DC areas.

“It connects with the state of Virginia but also with the global presence of the Solheim Cup,” Quirk said. “It’s trying to do both. You’ve got the Solheim brand and the global presence it has, but then also trying to work in the local flavor.”