Adidas to Move NBA Jersey Production Overseas

Nov. 25 -- Sports apparel maker Adidas plans to move most production of NBA players’ official jerseys and shorts out of the United States, according to managers of the main factory producing the gear.

With the decision threatening 100 jobs at the factory, American Classic Outfitters in Perry, NY, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), urged Adidas not to move the jersey operation. Schumer added that he might ask the N.B.A.’s commissioner, David Stern, to intervene.

Donna Wampole, a production supervisor at the factory, said it had already cut workers’ hours by 20 percent because of Adidas’s decision. The nonunion plant made the jerseys worn by Michael Jordan and other members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

Adidas said in a statement that it had decided to begin moving production of NBA uniforms closer to the source for materials. Robert Knoll, senior vice president for American Classic Outfitters, said Adidas informed him that a new fabric for jerseys had been developed in Asia and told the company two months ago that it planned to move production to Thailand — not just the plant’s production for 17 NBA teams, but also its production for uniforms for the WNBA and for the NBA’s Development League.

The Perry plant makes more than half of official NBA jerseys. Adidas has contracts with two other American companies to make such jerseys. The plant also makes uniforms for college and high school teams.

Adidas responded by saying it produced uniforms at more than 30 plants in North America and would continue to do so.

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