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August 13, 2013

LifeApps And Sports Apparel – It’s All About the Gear

Almost 30 years ago, an up and coming shoe manufacturer took a chance by creating a new line of basketball shoes labeled and branded after one specific athlete. By all accounts, this forward-thinking step was a blockbuster for the company, Nike (NYSE – NKE) and the athlete, Michael Jordan.  This revolutionary move also changed sports apparel marketing and sales forever.

In addition to its success wildly successful digital publishing business, LifeApps Digital Media, Inc. (OTCQB – LFAP - $0.07 – Spec Buy) markets and sells promotional and personalized team athletic apparel products via its subsidiary the Sports One Group.  Sports One specializes in the delivery of uniforms, decorating services, and gear and apparel.  The represented brands cover the entire sports universe including soccer, football, baseball, yoga, golf, tennis, volleyball, and lacrosse to name a few.

The sports apparel market in the U.S. alone was $84 billion in 2012 and the worldwide market is expected to reach $266 billion by 2017 according to a marketing study by the market research firm Lucintel.  The relative high sale price to production costs for some of the apparel these firms sell indicate that the average consumer is willing to pay a premium for quality or a trendy brand.  After all, when it comes to sports and representing one’s favorite teams, it is all about the gear. The niche distribution network of the LifeApps Sports One Group taps into this market offering top brands of personalized athletic apparel for wholesale distribution for a variety of sports. 

Many of the top brands in the LifeApps Sports One line-up are aligned strategically with the world’s most popular or fastest growing sports and the Company ensures it has exposure to all age groups.  For example, Diadora is a high-end Italian merchandiser with a strong presence in Europe particularly in soccer, and holds the number three spot in market share for the sport in regard to footwear and other apparel.  The Company also offers top brands for fans of lacrosse, one of the fastest growing youth sports in the U.S., along with high-end golf apparel such as Augusta, targeting baby boomers.

LifeApps’ unique brand awareness and apparel product sales proposition ensures that major athletic brands will not only broadly reach their fan base through digital publishing but through the sale of sport apparel as well.  For LifeApps, Sports One aids in its overall marketing efforts, and also serves as a catalyst for big time revenue growth this year.

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Senior Analyst: Robert Goldman
Rob Goldman has over 20 years of investment and company research experience as a senior research analyst and as a portfolio and mutual fund manager. During his tenure as a sell side analyst, Rob was a senior member of Piper Jaffray's Technology and Communications teams. Prior to joining Piper, Rob led Josephthal & Co.'s Washington-based Emerging Growth Research Group. In addition to his sell-side experience Rob served as Chief Investment Officer of a boutique investment management firm and Blue and White Investment Management, where he managed Small Cap Growth portfolios and The Blue and White Fund.

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