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Puma Basketball

New Pal Boiler

All-American
Jun 30, 2010
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With Puma hiring Jay-Z as head of operations and then signing Ayton, Bagley, and Zaire Smith, does this mean they will now sign contracts with college programs? And if so, would it make sense for schools like Purdue, which aren’t “flagship” programs for their current supplier, to look into becoming a higher priority for a lesser, but possibly on-the-rise brand?

Or- is Puma’s business model to disrupt the current system, by using Jay-Z’s star power to swoop in and poach ready made NBA stars that are coming out of Nike and Adidas schools, like they did with Ayton and Bagley?

After all, If you’re not paying Cal, Pitino or Coach K $5 million a year, that’s an additional $5 million a year you can throw at Ayton.
 
With Puma hiring Jay-Z as head of operations and then signing Ayton, Bagley, and Zaire Smith, does this mean they will now sign contracts with college programs? And if so, would it make sense for schools like Purdue, which aren’t “flagship” programs for their current supplier, to look into becoming a higher priority for a lesser, but possibly on-the-rise brand?

Or- is Puma’s business model to disrupt the current system, by using Jay-Z’s star power to swoop in and poach ready made NBA stars that are coming out of Nike and Adidas schools, like they did with Ayton and Bagley?

After all, If you’re not paying Cal, Pitino or Coach K $5 million a year, that’s an additional $5 million a year you can throw at Ayton.

I am not a marketing guru but Puma seems to be making a comeback. One of my kids’s soccer teams switched to Puma last year and it was a bigger deal than I would have thought. Nike and Adidas dominate the uniform business in Soccer, but the Puma gear was a big hit with other kids. Something new and a little different was the draw.
 
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I am sure someone at Nike is getting fired because when they paid Bagley's dad to "coach" his team they were expecting him to sign once he entered the draft.

No, I would not want to have Puma as our sponsor. I would rather be a tier 2 school in Nike's mind for now. One thing that will help change that perception is someone at Purdue pushing back and demanding more uniform configurations and options. Look at Oregon's football program. The seniors design their uniforms every year for each game. Imagine if Purdue pushed and demanded the same thing. I don't see Painter doing that but Brohm would.
 
With Puma hiring Jay-Z as head of operations and then signing Ayton, Bagley, and Zaire Smith, does this mean they will now sign contracts with college programs? And if so, would it make sense for schools like Purdue, which aren’t “flagship” programs for their current supplier, to look into becoming a higher priority for a lesser, but possibly on-the-rise brand?

Or- is Puma’s business model to disrupt the current system, by using Jay-Z’s star power to swoop in and poach ready made NBA stars that are coming out of Nike and Adidas schools, like they did with Ayton and Bagley?

After all, If you’re not paying Cal, Pitino or Coach K $5 million a year, that’s an additional $5 million a year you can throw at Ayton.
If the money and deal is better than the one we have with Nike, then it's a no brainer. A lot of Puma's recent success in the sports world can be attributed to Rickie Fowler. He is a marketer's dream.
 
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If the money and deal is better than the one we have with Nike, then it's a no brainer. A lot of Puma's recent success in the sports world can be attributed to Rickie Fowler. He is a marketer's dream.

Rickie has been huge for Puma and Cobra, more so Puma though. Look at my pic, haha. You go to a golf tournament and you see lots and lots of younger kids wearing Puma, probably followed by Under Armour.
 
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Rickie has been huge for Puma and Cobra, more so Puma though. Look at my pic, haha. You go to a golf tournament and you see lots and lots of younger kids wearing Puma, probably followed by Under Armour.
A couple years ago at Augusta we got a kick out of watching the occasional 40-something dude in a bright orange Puma shirt and a flat bill. Rickie moves product no matter how out of place his gear looks on its potential purchasers.
 
The Nike relationship is deep rooted into the 80s with Keady and Kendrick. Painter is a Nike guy individually as well. I’d take SLIGHTLY less money to stay with them.

If Puma were going to double the contract and be more involved with uniforms/merchandising/etc... it might inspire some change.
 
Selfishly most of my athletic apparel is Nike...and that includes my Purdue gear. I hope Purdue doesn't change anytime soon.
 
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