Designer Joseph Abboud Plays Ball with the Big Guys -- the NY Giants

Joseph Abboud just can't get enough of professional sports, and its parent company JA Apparel is apparently happy to indulge. The Massachusetts-based men's clothier just inked a three-year deal with the New York Giants (so much for supporting the home team Patriots) to be its official men's wear partner as part of a larger marketing collaboration in what's being touted as the largest program between a men's wear company and a pro football team.

But it's not the company's first. JA Apparel has actively courted the NFL in a move to suit coaches off-field. The deal -- signed in 2008 and good through 2011-- meant the elite leaders would have access to Abboud suits, shirts and ties of their choice to wear any time -â€" except on the sidelines during games. Thirty-one of 32 coaches bought into the plan. The exception? New England Patriots coach Bill Belichik (which says more about his fondness for hoodies than it does for JA Apparel's all-American manufacturing facility in New Bedford, MA).

In another show of good sportsmanship last year, JA Apparel signed a multi-year promotional deal with the NBA. Though this deal was for its less pricey brand, JOE, available exclusively at JC Penney (JCP) JA Apparel pulled out the stops for its launch. The gala outdoor event was held in New York City's famed West 4th Street public basketball courts, better known as "The Cage" to die-hard pick-up game players. JA Apparel had to pay the city over $14,000 (and an undisclosed sum for the benefit of other Manhattan parks) for the privilege of closing it for a few hours while NBA players serving as models showed off the threads on an improvised runway.

This latest big investment grants the company access to Giants players and its new $1.4 billion stadium for publicity. WWD reported that JA also gets to tap the Giants' database of 160,000 fans for direct marketing, and can do apparel presentations to Giants rookies during minicamp. That's not all. The brand will have a dedicated Joseph Abboud luxury suite and pregame Joseph Abboud display advertising on all suite-level monitors. The partnership will kick off with an event at the new stadium this year featuring players, Giants legends, and coaches. There's no date for this yet.

This is one more (expensive) step in the company's strategy to reach the maximum number of guys aged 35 â€" 54 in its target market. When JA initially announced its deal with NFL coaches, CEO Marty Staff touted the popularity of football and its all-American roots as aligned with the company's all-American design and manufacturing. "All of our competitors are European and this is really a point of departure for us."

It's hard to tell how much these efforts have affected sales for the privately held JA Apparel which is also actively expanding its Chinese presence. Something must be going right though, it's hard to believe in a time of shrinking budgets that JA Apparel would keep dumping money into partnerships with no measurable return.