Warrior Sports, Inc. is an American

sports equipment Sports equipment, also called sporting goods, are the tools, materials, apparel, and gear, which varies in shapes, size, and usage in a particular sport. It includes balls, nets, rackets, protective gears like helmets, goggles, etc. Since th ...

manufacturer based in

Warren, Michigan Warren is a city in Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Warren borders Detroit to the north, roughly north of downtown Detroit. The population was 139,387 at the ...

. The company currently focuses on

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

, producing sticks,

helmets A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the Human head, head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a Custodian helmet, policeman's helmet in the Unite ...

gloves A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...

goalie mask A goaltender mask, commonly referred to as a goalie mask, is a mask worn by goaltenders in a variety of sports to protect the head and face from injury from the ball or puck, as they constantly face incoming shots on goal. Some sports requiring t ...

s, and protective gear for both sports. Warrior entered the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

market in 2012, producing kits and training equipment for several clubs around the world, although the soccer sponsorship and products were later discontinued with its parent company New Balance's entry into the category.

History

Warrior Sports was founded in 1992 by David Morrow, a former lacrosse player. The company name is derived from Morrow's roots as a member of the Brother Rice Warriors lacrosse team in

Birmingham, Michigan Birmingham is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Detroit located along the Woodward Corridor (M-1 (Michigan highway), M-1). As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 censu ...

. The company started out as the first manufacturer of titanium lacrosse shafts, which changed the game due to their strength and light weight. Morrow went on to highlight the breakthrough shaft as he played for the Princeton Tigers lacrosse team. He also went on to be the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

player of the year. In 2004, the

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equi ...

, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. obtained controlling interest in Warrior. One year later, Warrior moved into the

industry when it acquired California–based manufacturer Innovative Hockey. In 2007, Warrior acquired the Boston-based Brine Sporting Goods to further establish their market share in lacrosse.

Sponsorships

In April 2011, Warrior Sports reportedly signed a sponsorship agreement for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

worth £25 million per season as of the 2012–13 season while

Carlsberg Carlsberg may refer to: Places * Carlsberg (district), a district in Copenhagen, Denmark ** Carlsberg station, its train station * Carlsberg, Germany, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany * Carlsberg Fjord, Greenland Other uses * Carlsbe ...

reduced their annual sponsorship to just half of that, overtaking the English club record of £23.3 million paid by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

for supplying

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and the previous deal from

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

worth £13 million. On January 18, 2012, Liverpool and Warrior Sports announced a deal between the two organisations, whereby Warrior became the Liverpool kit sponsor effective from June 1, 2012. The new Liverpool home kits were launched on the official Liverpool website on May 11, 2012, and were notable for their classic design and a return to a more simplified club badge. The design was welcomed by most fans but has angered some. This is due to the new kit moving the traditional commemorative symbol for the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

from the front to the back of the kit. On June 5, 2013, the new Liverpool away kit was launched for the 2013–14 season. Described as "possibly one of the worst football kits of all time", its reception was overwhelmingly negative, both in the press and from the fans, who quickly took to social media to express their dislike of it. In February 2015, parent company New Balance announced it was entering the global soccer market. As part of the move, all clubs and players sponsored by Warrior would be outfitted by New Balance while Warrior would go back to just hockey and lacrosse going forward. The practice facility of the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and the home arena of the Boston Pride of the

National Women's Hockey League The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) was a women's professional ice hockey league in the United States and Canada that operated from March 2015 until June 2023. The league was established in 2015 as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), com ...

is named Warrior Ice Arena. The arena, part of a larger project called Boston Landing is owned by Warrior's parent company New Balance.

Controversy

Beginning in July 2012, Warrior Lacrosse embroiled itself in controversy by launching a Twitter marketing campaign for which users were entered into a raffle to win a free pair of shoes if they used the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...

#ninjaplease. The campaign has been widely derided throughout the industry and in the lacrosse world. As Warrior was a founding factor in

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

(MLL) and sponsors all teams, some African-American players in the league have protested, with the possibility of retiring from the league should the controversy not be handled appropriately. Warrior suspended the campaign and the MLL removed all references to it on October 29, 2012, when the meaning of the hashtag used in the campaign came to the attention of officials of both organizations.

References

External links

* {{Sports equipment brands New Balance Lacrosse equipment Ice hockey equipment manufacturers Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Sportswear brands Warren, Michigan Companies based in Macomb County, Michigan Manufacturing companies established in 1992