Sports Authority

The Sports Authority retained Hilco Streambank as its agent to market and sell its intellectual property assets while operating as a chapter 11 debtor in the Delaware bankruptcy court. Hilco Streambank created various marketing materials highlighting the assets for sale, which included the Sport Authority brand and private label brands, patents, and customer data, which comprised over 25 million customer email addresses.

The Sports Authority was a household name in the sporting goods industry, with a history that extended back nearly 100 years. At its peak, the company operated over 450 stores across the United States, and an e-commerce platform at SportsAuthority.com. In 2015, the company generated over $2.5 billion in sales, $170 million of which came from the company’s private label brands, such as Tommy Armour, Bodyfit by Sports Authority, and Alpine Design.

Hilco Streambank brought over a dozen bidders from around the world to the auction. After splitting up the assets into nearly a dozen smaller packages, Hilco Streambank solicited bids for substantially all of the intellectual property assets.  This forced the eventual buyer for the entire package to increase its bid by nearly double its initial offer. The auction concluded with a sale of the assets to Dick’s Sporting Goods for $13.5 million.