BAUER for sale, CCM for sale?
Sports business news

Bauer's bids aren't from sports firms TheStar.com - Sports - Bauer's bids aren't from sports firms `Hockey is now a secondary pro sport in the U.S.,' says Rennie January 18, 2008 RICK WESTHEAD. SPORTS BUSINESS COLUMNIST

Nike's venerable hockey division, Bauer, is poised to be sold off to a non-sports company for the first time in the company's long history.
Months after Nike announced it would sell Bauer, just three companies, each one a private-equity firm, remain in the bidding, several hockey sources said.

Nike is selling its hockey division at a difficult time. The number of registered amateur hockey players in the U.S. and Canada has either flat lined or slipped in recent years. Several industry sources say NikeBauer will probably sell for $150 million to $200 million. In 1994, the year Nike bought Montreal's Canstar Sports, maker of the popular Bauer skates and other equipment, hockey was surging. Nike would wind up paying $395 million (U.S.) for Canstar, a 50 per cent premium above the level its shares were trading in prior months. Nike has said its hockey unit posted sales of about $160 million a year ago, and several industry officials said they estimate the division generated a profit of $20 million. A NikeBauer spokesperson declined to comment. As the Bauer auction winds to a close, speculation has percolated in recent weeks that rival sports apparel and equipment maker adidas may follow suit and put hockey division CCM on the block.

ReebokCCM has re-designed CCM's logo, given the brand its own booth at a high-profile upcoming Las Vegas trade show, and signed hockey phenom John Tavares to an endorsement contract.
"adidas bought Reebok to enhance its pro-sports position in North America," said Jim Rennie, who for years published a trade letter about the hockey industry. "Sadly, hockey is now a secondary pro sport in the U.S., and adidas has other priorities. Hockey doesn't figure in its strategic vision. Hockey won't help it catch up to Nike – hence they likely exit."
Several industry sources said Reebok makes millions of dollars in profit thanks to its exclusive agreement with the NHL to make player jerseys. The jersey market alone, one executive said, is now worth in excess of $100 million.