NY Post: Dick's Sporting Goods Eyeing Bankrupt Golfsmith?

Thanks to the great Lou Brown for this Josh Kosman NY Post story suggesting that Golfsmith's bankruptcy filing has hit a snag and may lead to a completely collapse of the retailer, with Dick's Sporting Goods eyeing a takeover.

Kosman writes:

Private equity investor Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System owns Golfsmith and shanked the 2012 investment by acquiring it in a $97 million leveraged buyout, which put the company in deep debt at the same time interest in golf waned.

OMERS combined Canada golf retailer Golf Town with Golfsmith, and now the company’s stores are almost evenly split between US and Canada.

“There’s just too much debt,” a source said, adding that the company would be profitable if it did not have interest payments on roughly $200 million in loans.

Roundup: Nike Golf Ending Its Equipment Business

There were signs this was coming, namely a staff departure and a seemingly strange equipment change by Charl Schwartzel prior to The Open, but still

Mike Stachura's report at GolfDigest.com notes the sale figures which sound great, until they are placed into the context of market share.

Nike, which reported flat to down annual sales in its overall golf business the last two years at just north of $700 million in annual sales (which includes shoes and apparel), has been in the golf business since 1984, but only introduced its first clubs in 2002 with the Pro Combo set of irons. Its sales in 2013 and 2014 were nearly $800 million.

The company has struggled to become a leading player in the equipment business, with market shares in woods and irons that were routinely one-tenth those of leaders Callaway and TaylorMade.

Stachura also recounts some of the products Nike made over the years and features quotes from Tony Finau, who recently moved to Nike and was surprised by the news. There is also a telling quote from a player who noted he never saw Nike's equipment in the bags of his pro-am partners.

Jason Lusk at Golfweek.com assesses the news and notes this on sales:

In its 10-K report for fiscal year 2015, Nike announced a 2-percent decrease in its golf business revenues from 2014. Revenues had dropped to $771 million in 2015, down from $789 million in 2014 and $792 million in 2013.

Will Gray at GolfChannel.com gets this quote from Mark Steinberg about Tiger's status. They have known about the end of Nike's equipment business for a few days.

"Clearly he and I need to be thinking about a change on the hard goods side," Steinberg told GolfChannel.com via phone. "He and I have discussed at length the plan for that, and feel comfortable with what we're going to do going forward. But clearly, there's likely to be a change."

Jeff Ritter at Golf.com also talked to Steinberg and got this regarding Tiger's clothing:

Steinberg declined to reveal which clubmaker he'd first approach, but added: "He's been a longtime icon of Nike Golf and that's not going to change one ounce. He'll remain a loyal and enthusiastic icon of Nike."

Steve Pike at the A Position says Nike never made equipment up to the levels and notes the timing.

Nike decision to cut bait on the equipment side comes at an interesting time in the golf industry. adidas Group has been trying for the better part of the past year to sell TaylorMade; and the Acushnet Company, parent of the Titleist and FootJoy brands, is in the midst of preparing for an Initial Public Offering. Nike’s exit from the equipment business likely won’t have any impact on either of those deals, but it likely will be seen as another black eye for a struggling industry.

USOC Threatens #Rio2016 Hashtagging Companies

Darren Rovell with one of the more amazing point-missing exercises in the social media area, as the United States Olympic Committee has notified companies who are not official sponsors that they must pretend the Games are not happening.

In a letter send to sponsors of athletes, Rovell says the USOC warns of stealing intellectual property.

"Commercial entities may not post about the Trials or Games on their corporate social media accounts," reads the letter written by USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird. "This restriction includes the use of USOC's trademarks in hashtags such as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA."

This is fun too...

The letter further stipulates that a company whose primary mission is not media-related cannot reference any Olympic results, cannot share or repost anything from the official Olympic account and cannot use any pictures taken at the Olympics.

Social media is largely a reminder and branding service that merely threatens to remind people to watch or enjoy the exploits of an athlete. While you can understand their need to protect the Team USA sponsors, it's got to be tempting for some to test the bounds of this to see just how far the USOC will go to "protect" its turf.