SOLD! TapouT, Hitman & Silver Star Acquisition & the Impact on the MMA World
September 6th, 2010 was one of the most important days in Mixed Martial Arts history, and it had absolutely nothing to with a fighter at all. Authentic Brands Group and its owner James Salter announced the purchase of TapouT, Hitman Fight Gear, and Silver Star Casting Co. and with it comes obvious change. Salter has purchased other companies in the past as well, and although I’m sure a brilliant businessman, I fear what this means for the reputation of MMA.
While I don’t have an illustrated history on Salter, just taking a glance at his history two things stick out to me, he worked with Airwalk, a name once highly regarded in the skateboarding community that is now a $20 shoe at payless, and Linens N’ Things, a company which has shut down numerous stores in my area and seems to be an online store now.
The feedback has not been good! Many fans are already vowing to boycott TapouT, going as far as calling Skrape, and Punkass “sellouts.” The brand was highly respected by fighters because Charles Lewis, and Punkass were actively involved in MMA before it was even legal in TapouT’s home state of California. With the new owner of TapouT and Silver Star being the owner of “Linen N’ Things” as well I want to know if he has any interest in MMA at all, or if it is just strictly a business venture for him.
With this purchase came Hitman Fight Gear, Iron Star, and TapouT MPS, all a low budget version of their parent companies. These lesser brands are offered at K-Mart, Kohl’s and SEARS Holdings, and with MMA Elite breaking into Wal-Mart stores this year, I’m afraid of what is to come. I worry that the mainstream exposure of a company so revered for having such a tight knit relationship with the fighters they sponsor and the connection with their fans will damage its reputation as a legitimate brand.
Looking on the other side of the story here, I think about my adventures to the local bars during a UFC fight, and I think to myself… “Can it make it worse?” I see so many guys rocking “TapouT” like a badge of honor when all they’ve ever achieved in the world of combat sports is beating up some drunken idiot on the sidewalk after last call!
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It seems as if the TapouT brand has been damned regardless, either it sells like it did to a man who seems to lessen the reputation to expand its market, or it maintains its stronghold on the MMA apparel market and continue to be branded as a trademark “douche bag” label. That being said, I think I would much rather see dozens of little kids wearing this brand and smiling, than dozens of meatheads wearing it and snarling!
This move won’t have a major effect on MMA at all for at least a year, but nonetheless there will be a significant impact. When you look at the major sports organizations like the NFL, and MLB, you see a Yankees shirt everywhere; it’s the man wearing it that makes the shirt. MMA apparel branching out throughout the world to broaden its market cannot hurt and maybe this will rid the clubs of TapouT meatheads for good, but those who wore these brands in support of the sport they love will just have to pay a moral price haven’t yet spent.
By Harold Hughes
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer