Adidas to move NBA jersey production; Perry firm ACO likely to suffer
The sportswear company Adidas has committed a flagrant foul against upstate and the “all-American” sport of basketball by deciding to move its uniform manufacturing for the National Basketball Association overseas, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Tuesday.
According to the New York Democrat, Adidas, under contract with the NBA to provide game-day jerseys and other apparel, has notified its U.S-based manufacturers — including American Classic Outfitters in Perry, Wyoming County — that next season’s NBA jerseys will be made in Thailand.
Adidas, based in Germany, confirmed the change in a statement Tuesday.
“In August, the Adidas Group informed ACO that it had decided to begin to transition the production of NBA uniforms to facilities located closer to the source of uniform materials. This decision is in line with both the company’s product strategy of developing and introducing new, innovative materials and technologies to basketball uniforms, and the company’s sourcing strategy of consolidating our supply chain.”
American Classic Outfitters, which employs 97 people, provides game-day jerseys for 16 NBA teams as well as those for all the WNBA and NBA developmental league teams. Rob Knoll, the Perry company’s senior vice president, said that loss of the contract would be devastating but that efforts are under way to find manufacturing work to compensate.
“We’re doing all we can to keep from losing these jobs, though some cuts are certainly a possibility,” Knoll said. Though Adidas was still under contract to the Perry company for the jerseys, Knoll said American Classic Outfitters had few legal options. “Adidas can squeeze out of it in any number of ways,” he said.
The potential job loss carries more significance because Wyoming County has only 14,000 nonfarm jobs and an unemployment rate of 8 percent.
Schumer said that, beyond the loss of jobs, apparel for the NBA should be made in America.
“Basketball is an American game. It began here. Adidas tried to make this move under the radar. I’ve reached out to them, but I haven’t gotten anywhere.”
He said that if Adidas goes ahead with the overseas move, he will urge the NBA to drop the vendor in favor of one that makes its products at American plants. Adidas signed a $400 million, 11-year contract with the league in 2006.
