An Introduction to "An Insider's Guide to the World of Licensed Sports Products in 12 Parts: Practical Lessons from the Trenches"

Greeting folks!

This note is written by Scott Sillcox in fall 2023 in response to a lot of readers asking me two questions:

A. You wrote and posted this 12 part blog in 2012-ish, is it still relevant today? Short answer - absolutely! The basics of sports licensing change very little over the years, so I strongly suggest that if you are trying to learn about sports licensing, read away! I have also tried to update certain areas where there have been significant changes, so I feel comfortable in telling you that this information is still highly relevant.

B. You mention that you are a consultant and might be able to help me, do you still do consulting? Short answer - absolutely! I work in the licensing field virtually every day of my life, so if you have questions or would like my help, contact me! The two primary ways I work are hourly telephone consulting ($175US/hour) and face-to-face meetings where I come right to your office for a full day ($1500US/day + $650 travel expenses).

Many thanks and happy reading -
Scott Sillcox

Please also note: This 12 part series initially appeared on my "Heritage Uniforms and Jerseys" blog, but I moved it in March 2012 to this blog which has a more single-focus on the world of licensed sports products.

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Greetings!

Have you ever had questions about the world of Licensed Sports Products, perhaps because you are interested in obtaining a license or for any number of other reasons including genuine curiosity?

Maybe you’ve got a great idea for a new licensed sports product and would like information about the licensing of sports products.

Maybe you’ve contacted a pro sports league regarding acquiring a license and have come away feeling a bit unloved?



I think I can help you – largely by sharing some information.

My name is Scott Sillcox and I owned Toronto-based Maple Leaf Productions. Beginning in 1997 and for the next dozen years, we were a licensee of the NFL, MLB, NHL and CFL, and through an associated company, a US collegiate licensee as well. We were licensed by the various leagues to produce a variety of products that were decorated with team logos, team names and other licensed images. The products we produced were plaqued and framed posters, clocks, fridge magnets, playing cards, fanframes, etc. The products were sold across North America by a wide variety of bricks and mortar retailers, catalogues and e-commerce retailers (e-tailers).

I am presenting myself as someone with a good deal of licensed sports product experience, which is absolutely true, but let me make it clear that almost all of my licensee experience was with the NFL, MLB, NHL, CFL and US colleges. If your primary sports licensing interest lies with the NBA, NASCAR, WWE, PGA, UFC or others, I believe my experience and lessons learned are still highly applicable but I would like you to understand that I do not have first hand experience with those leagues.

I liked being a licensee. I got along well with the leagues – I think I can say with confidence that we liked each other. This 12 Part “Insider’s Guide to the World of Licensed Sports Products” isn’t an explosive expose revealing some sort of dark underbelly – that’s because there are no great dark secrets to tell, at least no more so than elsewhere in business. So if you’re looking for skullduggery, buried bodies and hidden agendas, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I consider this 12 Part blog to be a “Share-all”, not a “Tell-all”. I am simply trying to share information about being a licensee in the hope that it will help other people interested in becoming licensees.

Why would I share information?

A. I am sharing this information as a service to people interested in obtaining a sports league license because I know from experience that I would have liked to have known all of this information prior to becoming a licensee – it would have made me a smarter, and therefore better, licensee.

B. I am sharing this information because there may be a handful of people interested in becoming licensees who would like to hire me as a consultant. I know the value of a buck and I have a good work ethic, so if you are interested in first-hand advice from someone with more than a decade of hands-on experience, I’d be happy to hear your story and lend a hand.

C. I am sharing this information as a service to the various leagues. Say that again? The thinking is that an educated potential licensee is much better than an uneducated one. The leagues simply do not have the time or the patience to deal with the seemingly inexhaustible supply of entrepreneurs seeking licenses who the leagues think of as dreamers and schemers and small timers (I say that with affection folks – I’m one of you!).

I get asked about sports licensing all the time. In many cases the questions are quite similar, in other instances the questions are unique. When I found myself answering the some of the same questions again and again, it occurred to me that people might be interested in what I learned over a 15year period, and thus “An Insider’s Guide to the World of Licensed Sports Products” was born.

The 12 Parts of this Licensed Sports Products blog are:
Part 1: How Licensing Works - Follow The Money or How $5,000,000,000 can be less than you think
Part 2: What’s Involved in Getting a License – You need them far more than they need you
Part 3: The Landscape and some of the players
Part 4: Quality Control – Where The Real Power in Licensed Sports Lies
Part 5: Royalty Reporting and Audits
Part 6: Selling Licensed Goods - Why it’s not as easy as it looks
Part 7: Players Associations and Current vs. Retired Players
Part 8: Royalty Rates – Is 12% the norm and when 12% isn’t enough
Part 9: Local Licenses – myth or reality?
Part 10: Packaging
Part 11: Ten Things (Actually 12 Things) I Learned Along The Way
Part 12: Ten More Things (Actually 14 Things) I Learned Along The Way

I encourage anyone with questions to contact me and I would encourage you to watch my 11 minute introductory video if you want to get a measure of who I am.

Thank you for your time –
Scott Sillcox
Email: ssillcox@rogers.com
Cell: 416-315-4736


PS from fall 2023: In case you weren't aware, I created and constantly maintain a searchable Online Directory of 2500+ North American Licensed Sports Products Companies – it can be found at www.LicensedSports.net and only costs $59 to use for three full months. This is a highly searchable directory of licensed sports products companies in North America, companies that have been licensed by various sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, NASCAR, MLS, etc.) as well as the various players’ associations (NFLPA, MLBPA, NBAP, NHLPA). There is nothing like it anywhere on the internet, and I update the database weekly, oftentimes daily.

Virtually all 2500+ company records have a contact name with title, phone number and email address. In many cases, I list up to six contacts within the company. What's more, many of the records have a Linkedin url so you can learn much more about that contact including if you know people in common.

So if you’re looking for all the licensed sports products companies based in Connecticut, or all of the NFL licensees which sell housewares, or all companies licensed by the NBA and the NHL and MLB for soft goods, check out this terrific and highly searchable resource at www. LicensedSports.net .


PPS from fall 2023: I am a very active consultant to people looking to learn more about the licensed sports product industry - you can find the full detail here.  I spend almost every day in the licensed sports product field and I work with between 300 and 500 clients each year. There are three primary ways I work with people:

1. Hourly telephone consulting
2. Full day face-to-face meetings where I will go almost anywhere in North America to spend a full day with you and giving you a fire hose amount of information that is directly applicable to your circumstances.
3. I have a bundled package of services for those people who know that they want to work with an existing licensee.

So visit here for more detailed info and let me know how I can help you move your idea forward.