The Top Team Dealers In America

After Collegiate Pacific Inc. acquired the two largest independent team dealers and became the 800-pound gorilla in 2004, a lot of people expected the buying spree to continue this year. Having assimilated last year's No. 1 and No. 2 team dealers ? Kesslers Team Sports and Dixie Sporting Goods ? Collegiate Pacific (CP) did acquire two more team dealers in 2005, though much smaller ones. CP made far bigger news "re-acquiring" ? as it were ? Sports Supply Group Inc. (SSG), the huge catalog sales operation that sells field equipment, player's equipment and basic uniforms direct to, well, anyone.

In the 2004 Top Team Dealer's issue, we reported that CP CEO Michael Blumenfeld and his son, president Adam Blumenfeld, intended to make Collegiate a $125-million company within three years. Well, they're going to achieve twice that goal in less than two years ? so it's fair to say that CP continues to dominate the team dealer market.

In its annual report (CP trades as BOO on AMEX), the company reported net revenues of $106 million in fiscal 2005 (ended June 30). That's up from net revenues of $39.6 million in fiscal 2004, an increase of $66.8 million, or 168.8%. Operating profits increased to $7.6 million from $3.2 million. None of that includes any revenue from SSG, which itself posted net revenue of approximately $90 million in fiscal 2005 (ended March 31). Once the SSG acquisition is completed, Michael Blumenfeld predicted CP, with growth from its team dealers as well as in SSG's catalog and e-commerce sales, will post more than $220 million in net revenues for fiscal 2006.

Johnny Mac's, No. 3 Top Dealer and the largest remaining independent, will post about $17.8 million in total sales for calendar 2005.

So, having also acquired two more team dealers since last year's report, the elder Blumenfeld had good reason to say, "We believe we are the largest and fastest growing independent team sports manufacturer, marketer and distributor in the United States." CP now fields a direct sales force of 170 people throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states as well as in call centers in Dallas and Los Angeles. Not including SSG, the company had about 580 employees total in mid-2005.

ROCKET RIDE

To recap, Michael Blumenfeld actually started SSG in the 1970s, eventually selling it to Emerson Radio Corp. and Emerson (Hong Kong) Ltd. in the 1990s. Meanwhile, in 1998 he re-incorporated Collegiate Pacific Inc., with his son, Adam, and went public in 2000 ? importing as well as fabricating sporting goods and field equipment.

Meanwhile, you may remember way back in 2004 when the team sports business was still made up of hundreds of small businessmen, hustling to supply player equipment, uniforms and other gear to school athletic