September 10, 2014 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with 1 comments
Apparel company VC Ultimate just completed the second year of their two year merchandising deal with the American Ultimate Disc League and will not be returning as the league-wide apparel partner in the upcoming season.
“VC has been a great partner for the past two years, and they will likely still work with numerous teams in the league,” said the AUDL’s Tim DeByl. “We are currently looking at a number of partners to produce the official AUDL jersey for the 2015 season and beyond.”
The decision to part ways was mutual, as VC is eager to focus more on the US college market and the AUDL is looking for a new deal with a bigger apparel company.
“In the midst of the college season, it’s really difficult to design and produce an entire leagues worth of uniforms on tight deadlines,” said VC owner Adriana Withers. VC expects to continue to work with some individual AUDL teams, though the scope of those arrangements may be limited by any new AUDL partnerships.
“We’re growing into a much larger model that requires that we look at many more pieces than just a merchandising company has to offer…The direction that we take with the more macro-level might dictate the future of the relationship [with VC],” said AUDL Commissioner Steve Gordon.
Both companies were complementary of the work they had done together and said that the split was simply a business decision.
The separation follows a similar one between Major League Ultimate and Five Ultimate last year, when the MLU announced that they had entered an apparel arrangement with Puma for the 2014 season. Five is no longer selling or producing gear for MLU.
