BasketDudes

It goes without saying that the teams and players of the most important world basketball club leagues generate and spend a lot of money on equipment, game supplies and merchandising items. For this reason, hundreds of brands offer their products to the players.

The fact that the WBC regulations regarding restrictions on how to equip players for a match is fairly lax has led to the development of a wide range of high quality sports equipment and is made available to the most demanding clubs and schools. Enormous effort goes in to finding materials and developing increasingly more efficient models as teams become more and more ambitious amongst the high level of competitiveness within the federation. In this market situation, there are two brands that have excelled, becoming the almost exclusive providers of sports equipment for the WBC. These brands are the legendary rival corporations Saurox and GTorch.

Saurox

www.saurox.com

The recent history of this legendary sports brand goes as far back as 1923 when the Scottish businessman Brian Adonaugh emigrated to the United States, creating and naming his footwear company Bidoon. During the Second World War, the successful footwear factory actively took part in supporting the troops and the allied countries, punished harshly during the war. Precisely for this reason, when the government wanted to force the company to convert itself in a weapons factory, Brian Adonaugh burst into a fit of rage, setting up a complete scandal and stirring up all of the ties he could get to so as not to lose control of the company which he had set up with his hard work and sweat. In the end he got what he wanted, thanks to sheer stubbornness and legal resources. In order to avoid the company being labeled anti-patriotic Bidoon took up manufacturing boots, uniforms, rucksacks and all types of necessary items for the army that did not entail the government's interference in the company's affairs.

Although the situation was the result of terrible world events, the company profits soared, their products were highly appreciated by the soldiers and it was not long before it also started to supply the allies. Brian Adonaugh accumulated a large sum of profit and silenced all of the criticisms he had received from the press and the government. When the end of the war arrived, the Scotsman's business instinct led him to invest large amounts of money in expanding his business to a Europe that was going to be the star in a great recovery and growth. The production of comfortable and cheap footwear enabled him to gain a predominant spot in Western Europe throughout the 40's and 50's. Finally, Brian Adonaugh died in 1951 leaving his company to his son Jonathan Adonaugh.

Following the death of the entrepreneurial businessman his soon took over. A great sports fan (he was even a professional player in European Soccer) and with a very good relationship with important figures in the sporting world, he focused the company's activities on sports products: sports footwear, soccer balls, basketballs, protective gear, etc. They were soon manufacturing all sorts of equipment. The objective of Jonathan Adonaugh was to cover all aspects of the sports market, both in the United States and in Europe. An enormous investment was needed to transform the gigantic Bidoon in a monopolist company. However, in the early 60's the gamble played by the tycoon was about to put the company founded by his father into bankruptcy. The reason: the strong launch of a new competitor, a modern and revolutionary company, dedicated exclusively to the world of sport: GTorch. The new model of sports footwear which they put on the market, with a flexible sole and much lighter and easier to customize, soon left their competitors in ruins. They continued diversifying their products and adapting them to different sports. The American market soon fell in love with the new brand, whose commercial focus was completely innovative compared to its competitors. By the time Jonathan Adonaugh came about to react and adapt his company it was already too late. All this culminated in a hard situation which led the tycoon to resort to rather regrettable methods: industrial espionage, sabotage, boycott and alleged blackmail and extortion. After a decade of lawsuits and an escalation of mutual defamation campaigns, the company Bidoon was left practically ruined and finally in 1968 Jonathan Adonaugh died of a heart attack. For four years the situation of the family company was tied up in controversial speculations and fights, which ended up putting the company to public auction. At that time its competitors had already overtaken the sales quotas of the old dinosaur on the entire American continent and they planned to soon expand into the European market.

In 1972 the company was auctioned, leaving the path open to Timon Walker, majority shareholder in the new company and future husband of Claire Adonaugh (inheritor of the founder Brian Adonaugh). The injection of money and the renewed company management spun the old company decidedly towards modernization, starting with a name change: Saurox, that would enter on the market with a new category of products completely adapted to the latest technology in its field, as well as a new style of marketing which was every bit as good as GTorch's. The two companies entered into a real battle, striving for the most emblematic players of the moment to proudly wear their products. What had been a "dirty war" for supremacy in the 60's, had turned into a war of flattery and financial investment by the early 70's, aiming to attract players and teams so that they would use and recommend their products. This period coincided with the "golden period" of the WBC which had now become the most famous international basketball championship with the highest number of associated clubs. The Schools of the WBC came to an agreement that did away with the war between the two brands by way of dividing the federation's teams and players' sponsorship evenly and almost exclusively. In this way, both brands moved to practically identifying themselves with the popular "mythical" personalities of the World Basketball Club League and its various Schools.

Nowadays, the honorary chairman of the general board of shareholders is Timon Walker and his son, descendant of the original founder, directs the board of trustees and the brand policies. The rivalry with GTorch remains a classic and the competition for the market is still as fierce as in the past. Now, the growing importance of the Asia United school has left the Asian market open to the two great sports giants, so it seems their ongoing competition will not come to an end any time soon.

GTorch

www.gtorch.com

This company was re-founded in 1964 by Karl Zevorich, a MIT student particularly interested in the application of different physical properties of materials to sports. Funded from the start by a number of entities that believed in their project, GTorch has aimed to earn a place in the market through constant innovation of its products. Marketing Director Terry O'Bryan carried out an aggressive and sustained marketing campaign, a pioneer in signing sponsorships and exclusivity agreements with the most important players of the moment, so that they would use and advertise their products. This strategy forced its competitors to do the same. The company was launched with the slogan Welcome to the Future. Its innovative technology and its fresh approach to sports footwear allowed it to quickly oust the rest of the brands in the majority of the sports markets, especially in the United States. Its gleaming successes led to an enormous increase in the complexity and structure of the company. The threat that GTorch posed to its most established competitors in the market (who also had the most outdated brand image, products and marketing techniques) led the other firms to join forces and do everything in their power to drive the young company to bankruptcy. In particular, its great competitor Saurox performed manipulations that were especially harmful: from stealing models to infiltrating the high ranking staff in the company. Some GTorch shareholders wanted to opt for an equally aggressive policy against other brands but Karl Zevorich threatened with disassembling the entire structure of R&D (that depended totally on him) if they lowered themselves to act in such a way. Amidst the climate of business scandal some reporters assured that certain GTorch shareholders created the short-lived company Shadowlight, specifically to focus all of its products and its campaign on undermining its competitors' activities and use it as a cover for the dirty war, but the company quickly disappeared and the matter was never cleared up.

All this unhealthy competition and constant legal suing eventually came to an end not long after the unfortunate death of the president of the main antagonist of GTorch, Jonathan Adonaugh. Then came the "golden years", in which this new company had a free run to position itself in the United States as the main supplier of all types of sports material. By the time Karl Zevorich retired, the company was already an established multinational business and Terry O'Bryan became the president of the company.

In the mid-70's, basketball became the most popular sport with the rise of the WBC. It was Terry O'Bryan who stretched out his hand to his most fierce corporate enemy, Saurox, to sign the most important financial contract in the sporting world. He convinced the WBC and the "legendary" Schools that provided international basketball with its best players. From then on the competition continues to be fierce but the fighting is clean and there are mutual benefits which make these two companies the Titans of the sporting world.

Other brands

Today, GTorch is a brand that offers the latest technology and innovative and revolutionary products, as well as a modern outlook, all of which means many players and teams trust in their products. Saurox, on the other hand, is a company known for the quality of its products and materials, as well as because some of the best players in the history of the sport have worn their sneakers, wristbands and uniforms. We could say that GTorch is favored for its innovation (fitting in better with traditions like those of the American School or the Saber School), whereas Saurox represents quality and is also considered a sort of "lucky charm" because some legendary players have worn their products (it is the favorite brand of Asia United and the Vonkann Schule). Despite that and the drastic exclusivity contract that the WBC signed up to in the 70's, other sports equipment brands have been able to find loopholes through which to make their way into the WBC market. Today, any player or team can use other brands, but GTorch and Saurox have the absolute majority in the basketball world. Maybe this situation will change in the near future, but both brands offer practically everything you could want as far as sports equipment is concerned.

Players can also have their style and technique strengthened with other elements such as tattoos.