3Bsnag wrote:Tumblebug wrote:madaboutsoftball wrote:I was wondering if college teams use Anderson bats ? I try to attend as many game as I can but don't recall seeing the Anderson bats. Maybe I just missed it.
We do have a small D1 college presence and if you look hard you can find us but the D1 schools require additional $$ of five or six figures along with free equipment. We don't believe a paid presence is any indication of the quality of a product. We've been approached by many D1 schools but we don't feel like that's the best use of our budget. I'd rather give twelve D2, D3, NAIA or JC programs or twenty-four HS programs equipment than to make a single D1 program a highly paid promotional vehicle that is obviously available to the highest bidder rather than a program looking for the best equipment.
Maybe that will change when we are no longer a little David in a battle with a whole industry of Goliaths and we have lots of promotional $$ to burn.
I do see your point, but also see the other side as well. The blue Catalyst was a huge hit. A very good bat, but put in the hands of #26 for Team USA and it's a major money maker. Arizona hits with a black Nike bat, and ebay goes crazy selling crappy Nike bats. Have a veteran heybucketeer with a kid that produces with a ping-pong paddle, and all the 10U parents buy their kid a ping-pong paddle.
If I was in your shoes, I would be doing the same as you are doing. I had no idea it was that much money (not product) to sponsor big DI.
And yet , in a poll of my biggest dealers those bats you mentioned don't show up on a list of the best selling bats. Especially Nike. There does not seem to be a correlation to the bat sponsor of the WCWS and overall annual bat sales. The correlation to D1 sponsorship seems to be very regional and while the regional markets are important it appears the national market actually does tend to give the nod to some tangible specifics including real performance, perceived performance and appearance. A classy, competitive, well coached, and well traveled travel-ball program has a bigger national impact than any regional college team. D1 schools are an easy investment. Give them their money and equipment and you seldom hear from them and you get what you pay for, a regional presence. A good travel-ball program has far more problems, most of those coming from off the field rather than on it and the problems rarely come from the players. but the upside potential for both the program and the sponsor is much better. I guess the question is, who do you love?
as I have advised everyone who has inquired about the bat before purchasing to move up an ounce.
