New Balance: Can they Balance Customers, Companies and Lacrosse?

New Balance purchased Warrior, the market leader in Lacrosse equipment as their first step into Lacrosse.  Recently New Balance purchased Brine, one of the next largest Lacrosse manufacturing companies in the market.  This has both retailers and customers alike interested to see how the acquisition actually works out for the consumer.  

Warrior, long known for it’s hip, edgy ads, combined its sales force with Brine almost instantly.  Seem strange?  Perhaps.  Now that New Balance controls around 70% of the Lacrosse market, it seems interesting that the Brine sales force would be cut before the “Warrior Sports” reps even know what they are selling.  Some of you may not know, but 1 in 4 players in the NHL are now playing with Warrior sticks.  Warrior has been attacking Hockey from their Headquarters in Michigan with the same zest it has with Lacrosse.  Sales reps for New Balance are now responsible for all of the Warrior line, the Brine line, and all Hockey gear as well.  Combining all these things surely means some products will have to go as well, but which products?

Some of you may remember an article we did around a year ago about the STX patent infringement on Brine’s offset head design.  Now, New Balance, and Warrior own the patent through their Brine purchase.  As a matter of public record, that also means that all of the controversial details described in the public case, are also details New Balance/Warrior possess.  What this means, is everything that STX did or does with their sticks, and anything related to offset technology, is now the property of New Balance. So my guess is we will begin more offset head technology made by Warrior.  Will they combine the two company’s research facilities?  How much of the creative stick innovation is completely duplicated between the two companies?  How will players who are not members of the Players Club factor into the New Balance plan?

New Balance might target the whole line of products named after a player who is developing product and is not playing right now, Mikey Powell.  He and his superstar brothers Casey and Ryan- all fall underneath the Warrior umbrella together. Mikey for the first time, but Casey and Ryan have done this all once before.  At one time, the older Powell pair was almost singularly responsible for helping Warrior become the marketing giant it is today.  How will this affect the sordid relationship between Warrior and the Lacrosse First Family? Ryan Powell just became the MLL’s MVP for 2006, a well-deserved honor for averaging 5.8 points a game on the Dragons. 

Closer to home, how will the acquisition of Brine affect the things we care about most:  The price of gear, and the quality of the gear we buy?  New Balance is a privately held company, and will have to demonstrate both restraint and integrity in keeping the prices reasonable for all of us to afford to play, and quality in manufacturing these products.  On the other hand, they may just drop the prices on all Lacrosse sticks, heads and gear to market to every chain store in America; imagine going to Target to buy all your Lacrosse gear.  Though that isn’t likely, we will have to see what the impact will be on the Lacrosse world.  One thing for sure, whatever impact it has will be a big one.