Tapout stock market

Posted: format Date: 18.06.2017

The heavily tattooed, bandana-wearing CEO fits right in at TapouT , a employee clothing company in Grand Terrace, Calif.

Apart from the name, what makes Punkass and his co-founders unique is the commitment they made more than a decade ago to a sport that was then virtually unknown. They took a gamble on a market that barely existed. If the market didn't grow, TapouT would have nowhere to go. If the market exploded, they would be the first ones in.

Back in , TapouT's three co-founders -- Dan "Punkass" Caldwell, Charles "Mask" Lewis and Tim "Skyskrape" Katz -- had no college degrees and little money. But all three had trained in mixed martial arts and were ardent fans of the sport.

They were confident that someday, the sport would be accepted -- even embraced -- by a mainstream audience. So they took the kind of leap that would make little sense to anyone but their fellow true believers: They maxed out their credit cards to start a small operation selling t-shirts at underground mixed martial arts competitions.

Back then, mixed martial arts was still a fledgling movement, well under the radar of other apparel companies. Today, it's almost as mainstream as boxing -- and TapouT's block-letter logo has become synonymous with the sport. The company sponsors well-known fighters like Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko and Thiago "Pitbull" Alves.

Along with tattoos and bulging biceps, nicknames are a must-have for practitioners of mixed martial arts. TapouT also sells clothing, mouth guards, nutritional supplements and other branded goods online and at retail chains including Macy's and Champs Sports. All those t-shirts and vitamins add up fast. So how does TapouT keep the mixed martial arts market in a headlock? Customers say it's the early relationship the company developed with both fighters and fans.

How's their new baby? How do they feel after a fight? The goal is to get fighters to wear TapouT gear in and out of the ring. That, in turn, has given the company mass appeal among fans -- which come mainly from the sought-after to year-old male demographic.

It's almost like a club. To make sure that club keeps growing, Punkass, Mask and Skyskrape brought a seasoned entrepreneur, Marc Kreiner, on board in Kreiner had a varied background -- he launched disco bands in the '70s and more recently started an infomercial company -- but he helped bring TapouT products to over 20, stores worldwide.

He also inked a handful of licensing agreements, including a line of TapouT-branded supplements with Champion Nutrition. But TapouT's evolution had its low ebbs. In , co-founder Mask -- known for his big personality and signature face paint -- died in a car crash. Kreiner, Punkass and Skrape were leveled by the loss of their friend and colleague.

Many TapouT employees got commemorative tattoos in Mask's honor with the word "believe. Punkass says that Mask's death has been the company's biggest challenge to date. But TapouT has other, less tragic troubles.

While mixed martial arts has toned down the violence a bit in recent years -- the rules, for example, no longer permit biting and eye-gouging -- some lingering controversy about the sport's roughness could limit the growth of its fanbase, which is TapouT's main audience. A handful of smaller companies have also entered in the mixed martial arts apparel industry, including Dethrone Royalty Clothing and Hitman Fight Gear.

But when it comes to the competition, TapouT's main threat is much bigger players, like Nike and Adidas. It's unlikely, suggests Cohen, the NPD Group analyst. But for the moment, at least, the company doesn't have significant competitors vying for a share of the same market, he notes.

And there's plenty of room to grow: As TapouT lends its name to more and more products, the company runs the risk of diluting its brand and losing "street cred" with its loyal fan base. But Punkass isn't worried about that. We stay true to the brand. Nike could be ready to cut out the middle man and start selling directly on Amazon. The recent drop in the cost of oil has been a happy surprise for drivers, who are enjoying the cheapest gas prices at the start of summer in 12 years.

After six months of scandals and PR crises, Uber's CEO resigned late Tuesday. Now comes the hard part. In , Ntsiki Biyela won a scholarship to study wine making. Now she's about to launch her own brand. Nobody likes a surprise medical bill.

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