Sports + Horticulture = Sporticulture

Chris Beytes

Once in a while we run across a retailer selling a sports team-themed plant—maybe a poinsettia dyed in Packer green and gold or a Vikings purple and yellow garden mum planter. But now your team pride merchandise can be official, thanks to Walnut Springs Nursery of Glenwood, Maryland, which has launched a new company called Sporticulture, Inc. The idea is to provide access to sports licensing opportunities for growers, retailers and landscape contractors. The National Football League will be their first partner.

Says Cort Smith, Walnut Springs’ president, “We have merged our two passions: flowers and football! We want to inspire the ‘deep-rooted fan’ and are excited about the opportunities this company presents to the horticulture industry.”

Pete Gilmore has been appointed Director of Business Development for the new venture, which is officially debuting at Cultivate’15. We asked Pete to give us some more details about the licensing program, asking, “What’s the difference between what you’re offering and a garden center selling orange mums in a blue pot and unofficially calling them ‘Chicago Bears’ mums?”

Actually orange mums would work great for the Bears. I bet more houses in River Ridge would have real plants decorating their porches if they were in pots that had the Bears logo officially licensed by the NFL!

We have talked to growers that service Northern markets who think they will be able to sell fall pansies as home decorations where they haven’t had success selling them as garden plants. Most retailers we have talked to are really excited about the possibilities of selling not only the plant program, but garden accessories with their customers’ favorite team logos. The NFL is one of the most powerful brands in our country and now we can offer the lawn and garden industry access to that brand.

Pictured: A mockup from MasterTag of what the Sporticulture program could look like.

There are products throughout the country that command higher prices because they are officially licensed by the NFL or other sports leagues. Think about the difference between the cost of an official Bears sweatshirt and the same sweatshirt without the team’s colors and logo. All of us in this industry think about how to attract more non-gardeners and we believe this type of cross branding will give growers and retailers an opportunity to do just that.

The added cost of the printed pots, premium tags and the NFL royalties will allow growers and retailers an excellent return on their investment. There hasn’t been a grower yet that said the cost was prohibitive. We have a couple of orders already, but with Mother’s Day week, no one has had time to talk more about it.

Football season is coming fast, so if you’re curious, contact Pete at (410) 442-2299 or email at pete@sporticulture.com. GT