Sports apparel and footwear company XBlades has entered into a multi-year partnership with AFL Aussie rules football team the Gold Coast Suns.
XBlades will serve as the Suns’ official apparel partner, supplying the team with playing and performance apparel, as well as the club’s retail apparel range.
XBlades replaces Australian sportswear company BLK as the Suns’ apparel partner. BLK was placed into receivership in November and has since seen kit partnerships with a host of sports teams, including AFL outfits the Brisbane Lions, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide Crows and Richmond, come to an end.
BLK was purchased by a group of private investors last month. The Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper reported that the company’s collapse ended up costing the Suns A$236,000 (€169,000/$181,000). The newspaper added that the contract is understood to be a three-year agreement. It will commence with the 2017 AFL Premiership season.
Gold Coast Suns chief executive Andrew Travis told the Bulletin: “Like a number of teams we were caught off guard by BLK’s situation and that meant we had plenty of work to do to secure an apparel partner before the 2017 season and we were excited to reach an agreement with XBlades.
“We were attracted to XBlades reinvigorated brand and with former Geelong Brownlow medallist and Premiership player Jimmy Bartel involved in designing the apparel with our players, we know we will get quality apparel with a player performance focus at the forefront.”