Castore, a leading premium performance sportswear brand and technology-enabled, end-to-end digital platform for global sports teams, today announced it has completed a deal with Umbro licensee, GL Dameck to sign an exclusive Umbro Professional Team Sports sub-license allowing Castore to market the Umbro brand in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark.
Following a £145 million investment round in November 2023, Castore continue to innovate in the elite sports market with this Umbro Pro Team license marking its emergence as a multi-brand business.
As a brand with a rich history at the heart of sport and a deep and storied life in elite football, having created some of the most iconic strips of all time, Umbro has an exceptional legacy. Castore’s digital expertise and highly agile global supply chain provides a model that has allowed it to disrupt the traditional dominance of Nike and adidas. The ability to now market and supply the Umbro brand for team sports will elevate both Umbro and Castore to new levels.
The deal is a highly innovative move by Castore as it continues to build its presence in the sports market, which benefits from a number of strong secular growth drivers – the continued globalisation of sport, the digitisation of the sector, and the ability to engage better with fans. The agreement also signifies Castore’s first step towards a brand segmentation strategy, enabling it to ultimately take a significant position in the UK & European elite sports markets, while respecting the tribal nature of fandom, as it continues its journey to becoming a leader global sportswear market.
From humble beginnings, Castore has rapidly grown to partner with over 50 leading sports teams worldwide through its digital first business model. Castore will now apply this digital expertise to the marketing of Umbro’s exceptional brand heritage and authenticity and further expand the Umbro partnership portfolio, with fans remaining at the core of its strategy.
From the start of the 2024/25 season Castore will have the exclusive right to seek to work with Umbro’s existing English Premier League team partnerships, including: AFC Bournemouth, Brentford, Luton Town and West Ham, as well as English Football League Clubs Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town and Forest Green Rovers.
Castore will also supply, under the Umbro brand, to Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premiership, where Castore is already the global kit partner for Glasgow Rangers FC, and England Rugby men’s and women’s teams at a time of heightened interest in the sport during the Guinness Six Nations. Castore already supplies Bath Rugby, Saracens and Harlequins with kit in Premiership Rugby.
Founded in Liverpool in 2016 by brothers, Tom and Phil Beahon, Castore’s business model combines a premium performance apparel brand with a vertically integrated digital commerce platform and supply chain to deliver a comprehensive service offering to top sports teams and leagues. To date, Castore has partnered with 50 franchises globally, catering to a massive end-market that is highly underserved, unsatisfied and thirsty for innovation – including those in football, tennis, Formula One, rugby and cricket. The business continues to record strong growth and is on track to achieve record revenues and profits in 2024.
Tom and Phil Beahon, founders of Castore, said: “We are delighted to bring together Castore’s innovative digital platform, and investments in supply and distribution, with one of football’s great heritage brands, in Umbro, to reach a new generation of fans. Umbro is a global brand which is woven into the heart and soul of football culture, and this deal represents the first step in the next chapter of Castore’s continued progress.”
Ewan Scott, CEO & joint founder of GLD, commented “We are delighted to partner with Tom, Phil, and their team in this groundbreaking elite sports relationship. Castore’s technology-led approach combined with Umbro’s century of authenticity in sports enables both partners to increase visibility on the field of play, whilst providing consumers with first class kit design and innovation”
