westfield san francisco centre type subsidiary industry retail founded 1984 headquarters west bradenton florida united states number of locations 547 stores january 2015 area served united states canada puerto rico united states virgin islands products sports apparel equipment footwear and accessories parent foot locker website champssports.com champs sports is an american sports retail store it operates as a subsidiary of foot locker . 1 2 products sold at champs sports include apparel equipment footwear and accessories . as of january 2015 there were 547 store locations found throughout the united states canada puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands . 1 the stores are mainly located in shopping malls and are 3 500 square feet 330 m2 on average . contents 1 history 1.1 early years 1.2 2000 present 2 marketing 2.1 swag magazine 2.2 nike yardline 2.3 sponsorships 3 controversies 3.1 dispute with nike 4 references 5 external links history edit early years edit champs sports was acquired in the 1980s by the woolworth corporation then a specialty store division of the f. w. woolworth company . it along with foot locker sold athletic merchandise replacing the five and dime and department store concepts with the increasing specialty store concept . in 1997 the woolworth corporation acquired the mail order catalogue athletic retailer eastbay for approximately 146 million dollars . 3 the acquisition of eastbay is a logical complement to our athletic business . roger n. farah president 1994 2000 3 a few months later on july 17 1997 the f. w. woolworth company closed their remaining department stores . the surviving woolworth corporation changed its name to venator group inc. while continuing its focus on the specialty store idea . 2000 present edit in 2000 after a decline in the market of sports apparel venator group shuttered many of their stores including 27 champs sports locations . this proved successful as high end footwear grew in popularity . 4 marketing edit swag magazine edit with the first issue released on august 28 2012 swag magazine is a quarterly online magazine focused on showing sports fans a different side of athletes and celebrities . champs sports partnered with many companies including under armour adidas and nike giving fans an interesting look on sports . the magazine features athlete interviews athletic gear and interactive videos . 5 6 nike yardline edit on september 8 2012 champs sports and nike launched nike yardline a store specializing in nfl apparel . the first store opened in the willowbrook mall in wayne new jersey . champs sports and nike stated that they are looking to expand the concept in the future . 7 between january 5 6 2013 a nike yardline location was also opened in south beach miami beach florida during bcs weekend . the store displayed college football apparel featuring participating bowl teams including alabama crimson tide and notre dame fighting irish . 8 on june 19 2013 champs sports and nike launched their second mall based location in the mall of america in bloomington minnesota . promoting the grand opening was minnesota vikings s running back adrian peterson who signed autographs and released a new shoe style . 9 10 champs sports bowl logo 2004 2011 sponsorships edit main article russell athletic bowl from 2004 until june 18 2012 champs sports sponsored the florida citrus sports s annual college football bowl game . each sponsorship is a four year deal costing them 4.25 million . vice president of champs sports rob brodersen commented as the premier mall destination for the core sports enthusiast it is a natural fit for champs sports to continue our partnership with fcs . we are excited to strengthen our relationship and look forward to further success by building upon our athletic heritage with this high profile college bowl game . 11 although the name of the bowl was changed champs sports continued to remain an official partner of both the russell athletic bowl and the capital one bowl through 2014 . 12 controversies edit dispute with nike edit in late 2002 nike placed restrictions on stores that sold their products . these restrictions required stores including foot locker and its subsidiaries to sell less popular lines of merchandise alongside the high end products . knowing the sale of these products could negatively impact profits foot locker refused to sell any nike products unless they received better quality products . both nike and foot locker suffered from the lack of sales . a negotiated agreement ended the dispute in late 2003 and nike products were re admitted to the stores . 4 references edit a b about us . foot locker . retrieved 18 june 2015 . champs sports information . foot locker . retrieved 22 february 2013 . a b woolworth acquires direct marketer . advertising age . advertising age . retrieved 5 march 2013 . a b history of foot locker inc. . funding universe . funding universe . retrieved 5 march 2013 . glass alana . lebron james headlines champs sports swag magazine . forbes . forbes . retrieved 5 march 2013 . champs sports ups its game with launch of swag . business wire . business wire . retrieved 5 march 2013 . richard brandon . nike and champs launch yardline first football retail destination . sole collector . sole collector . retrieved 9 march 2013 . nike yardline at champs sports on south beach delivers premium retail experience . nike inc. nike inc. retrieved 9 march 2013 . nike inc. adrian peterson opens doors to new nike yardline at champs sports . 4 traders . 4 traders . retrieved 22 june 2013 . kim john 21 june 2013 . nike yardline opening at champs sports in fhe mall of america . freshnessmag.com . retrieved 18 june 2015 . champs sports extends sponsorship of orlando bowl game . orlando sentinel . orlando sentinel . retrieved 6 march 2013 . romero iliana lim n. fcs lands new title sponsor changes name from champs sports to russell athletic bowl . orlando sentinel . orlando sentinel . retrieved 6 march 2013 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to champs sports . official website v t e foot locker company f. w. woolworth company champs sports eastbay foot locker kinney shoes woolco other divisions & namesakes buildings woolworth building st. louis office shadow lawn watertown store wilmington store winfield hall winfield house other buildings culture love at the five and dime seafoam salad woolworth v. contemporary arts events foot locker cross country civil rights greensboro sit ins ezell blair jr. franklin mccain joseph mcneil david richmond international civil rights center and museum february one clarence harris lexington store nashville sit ins family f. w. woolworth barbara hutton poor little rich girl lance reventlow married to cheryl holdridge and jill st. john retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title champs sports & oldid 731927426 categories companies based in manatee county floridafoot lockersporting goods retailers of the united stateshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersarticles with attributed pull quotescommons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 28 july 2016 at 12 17 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view