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Schumer calls foul on Adidas’ NBA uniform plan
New York Senator Chuck Schumer has called a foul on German sports equipment giant Adidas AG and its plans to shift production of official National Basketball Association uniforms to Thailand from a factory in upstate New York.
In a statement, Schumer said the shift could cut some 100 jobs at American Classic Outfitters in Perry, New York, which has made official NBA gear for about 40 years.
“It is flat wrong for Adidas to move the production of the jerseys worn by NBA players outside the United States when there are U.S. companies that have done this work so well for so long,” the Democratic lawmaker said in a statement.
“To do it in this economic climate adds insult to injury,” he added. “The jerseys the NBA players wear should be made in the USA, plain and simple.”
Adidas told ACO several weeks ago that it was canceling a contract that started in 2008 and was supposed to run through the end of 2014, according to The Buffalo News.
The company said in a statement the shift in production was part of a supply-chain consolidation, to move production closer to the source of the fabrics now being used.
About half of the NBA’s game-day jerseys have been made in Perry, along with uniforms worn by the WNBA and teams in the NBA’s farm leagues.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Steve Dipaola (Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge shoots)
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Just one more reason not to pay attention to the NBA–it was great at one time and now it being run into the ground.
[...] Schumer calls foul on Adidas NBA uniform plan – Reuters BlogsNew York Senator Chuck Schumer has called a foul on German sports equipment giant Adidas AG and its plans to shift production of official National Basketball Association uniforms to Thailand from a factory in upstate New York. In a statement [...]
Did he not get the memo that the Commish has always wanted to establish NBA teams outside of North America?And the senator probably forgot about the Raptors when he said the jerseys worn by NBA players must be made in the USA.