Escalade® Sports and Ironman® Properties
Sign Multi-Year North American Licensing Agreement
Evansville, IN (November 26, 2002) Escalade®, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESCA), through its wholly owned subsidiary, Escalade® Sports, has signed a multi-year North American licensing agreement with Ironman Properties granting Escalade® Sports rights to the IRONMAN® brand name for fitness products including dumbbells, weight plates, barbells, weight sets, exercise accessories, and the IRONGEAR® brand for weight benches and single and multi-station exercise machines. Retailers will get a first look at some of the products at the upcoming super show held in Las Vegas January 20-22.
"The Ironman and Irongear brand licensing agreement enables Escalade® Sports to produce high-quality, durable fitness products under a performance-oriented brand name that will delight both consumers and retailers alike. We look forward to the launch of our exciting new Ironman and Irongear fitness lines," said Dan Messmer, President of Escalade® Sports.
Escalade® Sports will leverage the Ironman's brand characteristics of power, performance, durability and quality to establish a branded presence in the fitness category. Ironman-branded products will be distributed through sporting goods and box distribution channels, while Irongear-branded products will be distributed through mass-market channels.
"By partnering with Escalade® Sports, we have licensed a core category for both brands," said Ken Strominger, Executive Vice President, marketing and licensing for Ironman Properties. "Ironman is the ultimate cross-training event, and fitness equipment is a natural fit for the healthy active lifestyle Ironman represents."
For more than 20 years, the Ironman brand has come to symbolize performance, quality, excellence, and durability. These traits have been used to describe many of the finest products on the market today and deliver a strong incentive for consumers to purchase Ironman-branded products.
For more information on Escalade® Sports visit www.escaladesports.com
Escalade® is a quality manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods and office/graphic arts products sold worldwide by better resellers.
For more information on Escalade®, Inc., please contact John R. Wilson, Vice President and CFO at 812/467-1265 or C.W. (Bill) Reed, President and CEO at 260/563-0621.
