Skechers Expands Sponsorship With Team WRT in Second Year of High-Speed Deal
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Following a successful season sponsoring the 2021 champions in both the GT World Challenge Europe and the FIA World Endurance Championship, Skechers returns to the racetrack with Team WRT for an expanded sponsorship that will feature the Skechers logo on several WRT cars for the 2022 season.
Global footwear brand Skechers seen on GT series car #46 as part of an expanded sponsorship with Team WRT. Image credit: Michele Scudiero.
Skechers, The Comfort Technology Company™, will be a primary sponsor on two cars from the Belgium-based team in the GT series for 2022—car #46 led by Valentino Rossi, Nico Müller and Frédéric Vervisch. And car #32 led by Charles Weerts, Kelvin van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor. In addition to the extensive branding on each car, the Skechers logo will also appear on driver racing overalls and the drivers will wear Skechers off-track. In the LMP2 series, Skechers will appear as a secondary sponsor on car #41.
“Skechers was such an amazing and supportive partner all the way to the victory lap last year, so it makes a lot of sense to take it to the next level,” said Vincent Vosse, Team WRT Principal. “While our business is racing, most of the team are on our feet so we all appreciate that innovative comfort that Skechers does best.”
“When race fans see our Skechers logo on the side of the first car across the finish line, they know we’re a winning brand,” said David Weinberg, chief operating officer of Skechers. “Skechers has partnered with WRT parent company, the Weerts Group, for many years on our European Distribution Center in Liège, so we have a long successful relationship that now includes motorsports. This sponsorship gives us a billboard in fast motion that keeps the Skechers brand front of mind with the global fans of this exciting sport.”
The action begins with the first FIA World Endurance Championship event tomorrow, March 18, at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida, followed by the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS season debut on April 1-3 at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit in Imola, Italy.
Skechers has been leading the industry for years in comfort with product that exclusively offers its innovative technologies and materials. These include patented Skechers Arch Fit Technology™ along with Skechers Max Cushioning Technology™, Skechers Hyper Burst Technology™, Skechers Air-Cooled Memory Foam®, Skechers Relaxed Fit Technology™ and Skechers Stretch Fit Technology™, among many others.
The complete range of Skechers footwear for men, women and kids is available in Skechers retail stores as well as skechers.com, plus department stores and footwear retailers around the globe.
About Skechers USA, Inc.
Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), The Comfort Technology Company™ based in Southern California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and children. The Company’s collections are available in the United States and over 180 countries and territories via department and specialty stores, and direct to consumers through 4,306 Company- and third-party-owned retail stores and e-commerce websites. The Company manages its international business through a network of global distributors, joint venture partners in Asia, Israel and Mexico, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Canada, Japan, India, Europe and Latin America. For more information, please visit about.skechers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
About Team WRT
Team WRT is a leading racing team established in 2010 that has won 49 international titles and prestigious races, such as the Le Mans and Spa 24 Hours. It is the current reigning GTWCE, FIA WEC (LMP2) and ELMS Champion. Through its manufacturing division AMP, Team WRT is also a race car chassis manufacturer, producing and assembling over 100 units a year for external customers. Team WRT is part of Weerts Group, a family-owned and diversified investment group established in Liège, Belgium, and operating in the Benelux, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Hungary and Romania. In addition to Motorsport, its main activities include Logistics and Real Estate. For more information, visit www.weerts-group.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, Skechers’ future domestic and international growth, financial results and operations including expected net sales and earnings, its development of new products, future demand for its products, its planned domestic and international expansion, opening of new stores and additional expenditures, and advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include the disruption of business and operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic; delays or disruptions in our supply chain; international economic, political and market conditions including the challenging consumer retail markets in the United States; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers; decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers, especially in the highly competitive performance footwear market; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in Skechers’ annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. More specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had and is currently having a significant impact on Skechers’ business, financial conditions, cash flow and results of operations. Forward-looking statements with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic include, without limitation, Skechers’ plans in response to this pandemic. At this time, there is significant uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic, including without limitation, (i) the duration and extent of the impact of the pandemic, (ii) governmental responses to the pandemic, including how such responses could impact Skechers’ business and operations, as well as the operations of its factories and other business partners, (iii) the effectiveness of Skechers’ actions taken in response to these risks, and (iv) Skechers’ ability to effectively and timely adjust its plans in response to the rapidly changing retail and economic environment. Taking these and other risk factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, the dynamic nature of these circumstances means that what is stated in this press release could change at any time, and as a result, actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The risks included here are not exhaustive. Skechers operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and we cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
Jennifer Clay
Skechers
jennc@skechers.com
Source: Skechers USA, Inc.
Released Mar 17, 2022 • 9:00 am EDT