Dick’s Wins Sports Authority Brand in Auction

Dick’s Sporting Goods was the successful bidder in the auction for the intellectual property of bankrupt competitor Sports Authority with a bid of $15 million, according to Reuters. The bankruptcy court’s hearing to consider approval of the deal is scheduled for July 15.

The intellectual property of Sports Authority includes its e-commerce website, SportsAuthority.com, a loyalty program with 28.5 million members, and a list consisting of 114 million customer files, according to an advertisement for the intellectual property auction.

Dick’s said it also plans to take over the leases for 31 Sports Authority stores for an additional $8 million.

Dick’s could create an off-price chain under the Sports Authority brand, said Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst at the NPD Group. Discount is a growing sector in retail, he said.

Sports Authority held a bankruptcy auction for its assets on Wednesday, and the process wrapped up early Thursday morning. It filed for bankruptcy in March.


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