All-Star Rebel Takes On Goliath

[randomactsofcheer]

Anti trust by definition prevents predatory business practices by ensuring fair competition exists in an open market economy. While many of you feel these are "hostile takeovers", they are not by definition. Mergers, where companies agree to form a partnership, are far from predatory and Varsity is not by definition a monopoly. It would take me hours to list all of the activewear, warm up, shoe, bow, backpacks, sports bras, uniform, megaphone, and yes even events out there.

Many people in this thread have said, if you don't like Varsity, then just don't use them, attend their events, etc. The point I was trying to make about distance and competitions is that, with the recent Varsity takeover, many gyms have no choice but to attend Varsity events now. I never said any of their takeovers were hostile, but through mergers and takeovers Varsity has slowly whittled down the IEP "choices" to completely non-existent in some areas.

Varsity owns about 95% of the cheer market. It is my opinion that it is a monopoly. So we will just have to agree to disagree on that. Like I said, not all monopolies are illegal. Is the Varsity monopoly legal? Only time will tell. It will be interesting to see how Varsity handles this new company's competition, because it looks like Rebel is very capable of large-scale production. Rebel grew very large, very quickly. They seem to have a very good business plan and an excellent marketing team. They are going to give Varsity a run for their money in the uniform department. Let's see if Varsity tries to retain and win new customers by stepping up their quality of production, customer service, etc... Or if they will simply use their market "might" to squeeze out the competition.

 

[RandomCheerMom]

Nike pros, Nike shoes, Nfinity backpacks, Nfinity shoes, the multitude of uniform makers out there are not Suzie's mom who makes bows from home. It doesn't matter that Varsity has their hands in all things cheer, that does not make it illegal nor a monopoly. What Varsity has done best are their events but, just because I have to travel a long distance to get there does not make it illegal either. I'm not sure I get your comment on "Just because there are other options out there, doesn't necessarily mean the options are feasible enough to even be considered as "choices" by a consumer.".....If you have options, you have choices. Period. You can't blame Varsity on convenience of location or the fact that they do something better and gym owners have decided to attend their events instead of Daisy Mae's event at the local High School.

Anti trust by definition prevents predatory business practices by ensuring fair competition exists in an open market economy. While many of you feel these are "hostile takeovers", they are not by definition. Mergers, where companies agree to form a partnership, are far from predatory and Varsity is not by definition a monopoly. It would take me hours to list all of the activewear, warm up, shoe, bow, backpacks, sports bras, uniform, megaphone, and yes even events out there.

What qualifies as a 'predatory business practice'? I hope this doesn't come across as smart a$$y, I'm just trying to understand.
Eta- the usual, typo

 

[tumbleyoda]

How many "coincidences, it's just the timing, and mutual agreements" have to happen and be advanced before the needle moves from rumors to facts? How many more EP's bought? How many more gyms under the umbrella?

Again this is not an anti post. It is an opposing viewpoint being politely discussed.

 

[astaley22]

Cheetahs, Wildcats, Swooshcats (all rebel)
So yeah just Cheer Athletics.

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Champion Cheer wears Rebel as well. Their ioc6 won NCA and their small senior( I think) came in 3rd.

 

[caitlyn_the_camille]

That is not true. Of course they are going to suggest the varsity shoe but I see plenty of nfinities walking around my gym. I personally wear Adidas. Never had a single person say anything to me. If they were getting special treatment, they also probably wouldn't have gotten 31st out of 31 teams this past weekend at NCA. Lots of non variety owned teams have mysteriously gotten bids after competitions were over. (You didn't say that but someone else did) Say all you want about how varsity shouldn't own gyms but please do not spread blatant lies.




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The "wear Varsity" rule may not be true about Premier, but I know for a fact it is happening at some gyms and many, /many/ schools around the country.
Varsity isn't nearly the big evil monster a lot of people portray them as- and I've never taken a business class in my life- but by my definition, they're approaching a monopoly.
They'll never come right out and say "use us or else" but they know how to be veerrryyyy convincing.

 

[CookieMomster]

I have nothing against Varsity, and I'm not anti-Varsity. We've attended Varsity events and enjoyed them. I even admire the cheer empire they managed to build; however, what I'm talking about goes beyond mere apparel items. The business practitioner in me questions the conflict of interest and wonders when/if it'll catch up. With cheer growing more and more, it's only a matter of time before questions are raised in outside circles BUT that's not my circus and not my monkeys. I'm just giving an outside viewpoint.

With that said, like I stated in my 1st post, I love a good David & Goliath story and almost always cheer for the underdog. It's going to take disruptive innovation, and a keen sense of business prowess and marketing ingenuity to get a foothold in the market and make a dent. Startups and existing businesses are starting to realize this and it's going to be great to watch it all play out. I wish everybody success and may the odds ever be in their favour.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

That is not true. Of course they are going to suggest the varsity shoe but I see plenty of nfinities walking around my gym. I personally wear Adidas. Never had a single person say anything to me. If they were getting special treatment, they also probably wouldn't have gotten 31st out of 31 teams this past weekend at NCA. Lots of non variety owned teams have mysteriously gotten bids after competitions were over. (You didn't say that but someone else did) Say all you want about how varsity shouldn't own gyms but please do not spread blatant lies.




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I do not lie. My CP cheered at a Premier Athletics gym. They didn't simply suggest Varsity shoes. They specifically told us (via email) that our kids could not wear Nfinity shoes because of quality concerns. Did some people still wear them? Yes, they did. My CP was one of them. We had just bought a new pair before the email came out. I wasn't going to spend another $80-90 on shoes so I had her continue to wear them. She was talked to several times about wearing non-approved shoes in the gym. That may have been our specific location, but I promise you it did happen.

I am not spreading lies and I never said Varsity shouldn't own gyms. They have that right as a business. I also said I didn't see blatant preferential treatment at our gym. From my point of view, I felt we were treated like any other gym at comps.

 

[cheernerd5678]

Champion Cheer wears Rebel as well. Their ioc6 won NCA and their small senior( I think) came in 3rd.

I was just looking at level 5 winners but you're right!


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[astaley22]

I was just looking at level 5 winners but you're right!


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Oh I know! I should have quoted the post that you responded to instead of yours because I was making a more general comment about another gym with level 5+ teams that wear something other than Varsity.

 

[AScheer]

While not completely on topic. For those that aren't involved with school cheer, and those that don't follow the high school threads, UCA (aka varsity) sent an email out this week stating that starting next season you cannot attend UCA nationals without attending a UCA camp.

 

[tumbleyoda]

While not completely on topic, but in the realm of varsity monopoly talks. For those that aren't involved with school cheer, and those that don't follow the high school threads, UCA (aka varsity) sent an email out this week stating that starting next season you cannot attend UCA nationals without attending a UCA camp. Will we one day see an email that says you can't attend camp in non varsity clothes, or competitions in non varsity uniforms? Maybe, maybe not, but it's the forcing out options that makes monopoly talks happen on this board every 6 months.

Several schools have been told that, even though it was not an "official policy" and merely an strongly offered suggestion. Many just accept things like this as what it is. Even if they disagree.

Those that don't...well they are called troublemakers and conspiracy theorists by those who support it.

 

[catlady]

@randomactsofcheer I'm at a loss where you are coming up with Varsity owning 95% of the cheer market. Can you please give me your source and what you are including as "cheer market"? I truly am not trying to be argumentative but, I hear people quote these numbers ranging from 50-95% all the time and when I Google for articles I come up with nothing but, small sources that quote people but don't provide numbers broken down by business. If you break Varsity down by category: Cheer shoes, T-shirts, poms, props, sport bras, uniforms, bows, backpacks, spanks, shorts, camps, gyms, and IEP's, that number can't even come close to 50%. Most of the Elementary, MS, HS, Rec, Prep teams I have seen do not have Varsity product on nor, attend Varsity camps. All Star ( a lot of product, not many camps), College (probably most product and camps) and competitive HS's (some product, some camps) but, they certainly don't equate to 95% of the cheer industry product and think about all of the Elementary, MS, HS, and Rec comps that aren't Varsity.

@AlwaysLearning I'm not a fan of being told I have to purchase a certain product, however, many gym owners receive sponsorships or rebates from large companies to endorse and promote their product. Varsity gyms are not the only gyms out there that tell parents they want them to purchase a specific shoe or backpack. Our kids are huge walking advertisements.

@RandomCheerMom Lol, I was in corporate business for 25 years and still get confused by what qualifies by definition and have to look it up. Predatory business practice are targeting a consumer or business weakness and exploiting it for personal gain. While some will quickly say, "Yes, that's Varsity!", if you read the examples of predatory business practices they are more in lines of targeting individuals and businesses that are struggling financially and credit wise, and take advantage of those situations. Charging $25-30 for an event, receiving rebates for filling up most of the hotels in the city, offering gyms sponsorships for using their product and $5 Dipping Dots, unfortunately, don't qualify.

Off subject but, we closed on a refi this morning and our closing atty. said they spend $40,000-$50,000 a year on their daughter's tennis for the Academy and private lessons. All Star, for once, seemed like a bargain.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

@catlady I have no problem with a gym saying "Hey we're partnering with X company so from now on we will be wearing their products from bow to toe". That's common practice in organized sports. What I have a problem with is when they do it under the guise of "reports of poor quality". If the product was truly unsafe then provide evidence or details and hold up your policy.

All I ask is for my gym to be upfront with me on why. If I was told "this is a Varsity gym so we wear Varsity" then I would have complied. Don't try to make me believe an entire product line is poor quality when you really just want me to wear your brand.

 

[cheer25mom]

@catlady I have no problem with a gym saying "Hey we're partnering with X company so from now on we will be wearing their products from bow to toe". That's common practice in organized sports. What I have a problem with is when they do it under the guise of "reports of poor quality". If the product was truly unsafe then provide evidence or details and hold up your policy.

All I ask is for my gym to be upfront with me on why. If I was told "this is a Varsity gym so we wear Varsity" then I would have complied. Don't try to make me believe an entire product line is poor quality when you really just want me to wear your brand.

I see the "poor quality" on the other side of the coin. Cp can get a full season out of nfinitys but wore 2-3 pair of varsity shoes a season for the 2 years we used them.

 

[coachrah]

You haven't Googled cheer "stuff" before have you? In business we would possibly call the cheer industry an oligopoly. "Google" cheer uniforms (Varsity, Rebel, GK, Team Cheer, Cheer Fantastic, Branded, Imports, the lists goes on and on) , IEP's (Many small ones but, definitely Varsity is the large guy), bows (Too many to count), shoes (Varsity, Nfinity, Nike, Chasse, Asics, Kaepa, the list goes on and on), backpacks (Too many to count), practice wear (Too many to count), Cheer camps (at almost every school and All Star gym), etc. Honestly, there are probably too many to even call the cheer industry an oligopoly.

What Varsity has done is created many events that people actually want to come to and while doing that, they pay for the entire convention center. Honestly, what business in their right mind is going to pay the rent and allow someone else to come in and sell the same product they do? Thus, my Pepsi and Coke analogy. People on the boards like to throw around monopoly and anti trust but, you have to actually have a company that fits those definitions for those words to stick.

Now, as for my analogy that you did not feel was fitting on small businesses benefiting from the mega large, here's another, "Disney World". How many businesses, even other amusement parks, have profited and benefited off of the coat tails of Disney World? Yes, Varsity is extremely beneficial to the smaller guys.

Amusing analogy since VB is now building at Disney World.

@randomactsofcheer I'm at a loss where you are coming up with Varsity owning 95% of the cheer market. Can you please give me your source and what you are including as "cheer market"? I truly am not trying to be argumentative but, I hear people quote these numbers ranging from 50-95% all the time and when I Google for articles I come up with nothing but, small sources that quote people but don't provide numbers broken down by business. If you break Varsity down by category: Cheer shoes, T-shirts, poms, props, sport bras, uniforms, bows, backpacks, spanks, shorts, camps, gyms, and IEP's, that number can't even come close to 50%. Most of the Elementary, MS, HS, Rec, Prep teams I have seen do not have Varsity product on nor, attend Varsity camps. All Star ( a lot of product, not many camps), College (probably most product and camps) and competitive HS's (some product, some camps) but, they certainly don't equate to 95% of the cheer industry product and think about all of the Elementary, MS, HS, and Rec comps that aren't Varsity.

@AlwaysLearning I'm not a fan of being told I have to purchase a certain product, however, many gym owners receive sponsorships or rebates from large companies to endorse and promote their product. Varsity gyms are not the only gyms out there that tell parents they want them to purchase a specific shoe or backpack. Our kids are huge walking advertisements.

@RandomCheerMom Lol, I was in corporate business for 25 years and still get confused by what qualifies by definition and have to look it up. Predatory business practice are targeting a consumer or business weakness and exploiting it for personal gain. While some will quickly say, "Yes, that's Varsity!", if you read the examples of predatory business practices they are more in lines of targeting individuals and businesses that are struggling financially and credit wise, and take advantage of those situations. Charging $25-30 for an event, receiving rebates for filling up most of the hotels in the city, offering gyms sponsorships for using their product and $5 Dipping Dots, unfortunately, don't qualify.

Off subject but, we closed on a refi this morning and our closing atty. said they spend $40,000-$50,000 a year on their daughter's tennis for the Academy and private lessons. All Star, for once, seemed like a bargain.

How wonderful for you that you have not experienced any backlash but that doesn't mean it did not or does not exist.