Monday, September 08, 2014

VC to Close AUDL Online Store

A late Friday posting from VC Ultimate announced: "The American Ultimate Disc League Store is closing its doors this month, which means some insane deals for fans!"


VC's web store repeats the news with: "This online store will soon be no longer..."



The timing does not exactly match up with their 2 year agreement with AUDL. Back in February 2013, AUDL issued a press release touting a "two-year agreement...to be the exclusive provider of...an online store that will serve all AUDL teams."

The 2013 press release ends with: "We are looking forward to a long and fruitful relationship for both parties."

One of the problems is that there are some pro Ultimate teams in the AUDL that currently sell merchandise outside of the VC online store (i.e. Spiders, Empire).  Plus, the AlleyCats are the one team that has eschewed VC completely and setup their own online store via their team website and outfitted their team in NIKE uniforms.

UPDATED [09/10/2014]:
The answer to my "Why?" question was provided by Ultiworld.

"The decision to part ways was mutual, as VC is eager to focus more on the US college market and the AUDL is looking for a new deal with a bigger apparel company."


Let the speculation begin as to which "bigger apparel company" AUDL will deal with for the 2015 season.

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