Sign at the entrance to the Lululemon store in Midtown Manhattan.
Erik Mcgregor | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Lululemon is partnering with the NFL to launch an apparel collection featuring the logos of all 32 NFL teams, the company and league announced Monday. It will mark the first time the retailer has offered officially licensed products for the NFL or any of its franchises.
The collection, set to launch Tuesday, will include both men’s and women’s apparel and accessories with NFL team symbols. Some of Lululemon’s most notable products — including its Steady State men’s franchise and women’s styles such as Define, Scuba and Align — are part of the collection.
Shares of Lululemon rose more than 3% in morning trading Monday.
Lululemon, long known for its roots in yoga wear, has made a notable push into sports and performance in recent years. The retailer struck a partnership with the NHL last year to release team-branded items. It has also grown its roster of sports-linked ambassadors to include PGA golfers Min Woo Lee and Max Homa, ATP tennis pro Frances Tiafoe, NFL player DK Metcalf and NHL player Connor Bedard. Earlier this year, the retailer made perhaps its biggest splash to date, naming F1 champion Lewis Hamilton as an ambassador.
Celeste Burgoyne, president of Lululemon’s Americas division and global guest innovation, said the retailer sees an opportunity within sports where it can provide “the best product for these fans in the premium space to be able to celebrate their teams.”
“It really is about enabling our existing guests to be able to now wear Lululemon in arenas and stadiums, but it’s also about a new guest and expanding and really connecting our worlds in order to grow our guest base,” she said in an interview with CNBC.
Lululemon has struggled in recent quarters. The company has been hit hard by the impact of tariffs and other shifting consumer trends. But CEO Calvin McDonald, speaking with CNBC last month, said he sees an opportunity to innovate within the company’s key categories and items.
For the NFL, partnering with Lululemon on a new collection is another opportunity for the league to broaden its reach for team gear, according to NFL Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson.
“We want to make sure we’re creating a variety, an assortment for all fans, from casual to the more classic styles,” Anderson told CNBC. “It’s all a part of that ecosystem of passion and love for the sport and your club, and the ability to express yourself that way, whether it’s fun ways with foam fingers or hats, or in a cool, casual, fashionable way.”
The new items will be available on the league’s e-commerce site and at team retail locations, as well as via Fanatics, which has a longstanding partnership with the NFL and holds the league’s consumer product licensing rights for fan gear.
Andrew Low Ah Kee, CEO of Fanatics Commerce, said the sports industry has historically often overserved fans in certain casual product categories, like T-shirts and hoodies, but that there is now “a real demand and appetite for truly premium.”
“The jersey is truly the uniform of sport,” Low Ah Kee told CNBC. “So when we think about a consumer’s closet, we think there’s a role for jerseys, but we think there’s a role for a lot of other apparel as well.”
