We are a real-life "fantastic factory"
W A SPORT was founded in August 1992, in the city of Cachoeiras de Macacu, RJ/Brazil. Over the years, our growth has occurred in several ways: demand for services, new clients, hiring and training of employees, physical space and production capacity of our factory. There is nothing better than images to explain all of this! Including our beginning! At the time, Estevão and Minalda, founders of W A Sport, started making and printing shirts at home, with an improvised construction in the backyard. Their children, William and Karla, also used the construction site as a place to play. In other words, we are the result of a family business that overcame adversity and was successful.
In the 1990s, when this story began, the business focused on producing custom shirts and uniforms for schools and companies. In 2008, our founders' passion for sports grew stronger and they decided to take a chance on the business, returning to the production of custom sports uniforms - made to order.
This notoriety made us reach traditional clubs such as Madureira (RJ), Bangu (RJ), Campo Grande (RJ), Fluminense from Feira de Santana (BA), Itabaiana (SE), Confiança (SE), Botafogo from Paraíba (PB), Campinense (PB), São Gonçalo E.C. (RJ), Pérolas Negras (RJ), among others.
+ than 30 professional football clubs from all over Brazil have worn our brand
+ than 20 thousand companies, institutions, sports clubs and amateur teams served
In addition to football, our trajectory followed an inevitable path: to also produce for other sports, such as tennis. In sports, we dressed the Guga Kürten Tennis School for two years, and had a successful partnership with the CBT (Brazilian Tennis Confederation). Dressing the national delegation, we went far:
- Pan American Games in Lima/Peru (2019): gold medal with João Menezes | bronze medal with the duo Carol Meligeni and Luisa Stefani;
- Olympic Games in Tokyo/Japan (2021): bronze medal with the duo Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani (an unprecedented feat for Brazil in this sport);
- Pan American Games in Santiago/Chile (2023): gold medal with the duo Marcelo Demoliner and Gustavo Heide (men's), gold medal with the duo Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani (women's), and silver medal with the duo Marcelo Demoliner and Luisa Setefani (mixed).
The year 2020 was full of challenges for our brand, which had to reinvent itself due to the pandemic (as did thousands of Brazilian companies). Given the suspension of sports activities and the uncertainties imposed by Covid-19, we took a project that had been in progress for almost a year off the ground: licensing sports products for international rock bands. And we can say that we started off on the right foot!
With the launch of official Iron Maiden products on May 1, 2020, we can say that W A SPORT managed to “turn the tables”. We dove headfirst into the world of e-commerce, where we had never really invested, and the result was the best of all: with just three soccer jerseys and a few sock models, we won over the band’s fans, selling not only to Brazil, but to several countries in Latin America.
In the period after the isolation imposed by the pandemic, we continued with our sports production at full steam. In addition to rock, we established a partnership with Botafogo Basquete from Rio de Janeiro, a professional team that competes in the NBB and has been outdoing itself every season. We expanded our services to soccer schools and projects that need large quantities on an ongoing basis. This is the case of Paris Saint-Germain Academy Brazil, where all local units use our material (there are more than 50 in operation throughout the country).
We also have other clients in the segment, such as Inter de Milão Academy Brasil, Bernardinho's Volleyball School, and all Zico 10 units, which are led by the great soccer idol. He has even become a great friend of our brand - being our partner in several initiatives. Since 2018, we have also been the supplier of the Jogo das Estrelas, where Zico brings together artists, athletes and soccer friends for an end-of-year celebration match at Maracanã. In addition to the meeting, the goal is to do good, since part of the proceeds from the match are donated to charities.
Rock and sport: we prove how well it works!
Have we mentioned before how much Iron Maiden's licensing has changed our history? And it wasn't just in the e-commerce sector! At the end of 2020, we couldn't even imagine all the surprises that the licensing process had in store for us. In November, we opened an official store with Iron Maiden products at Galeria do Rock, in São Paulo. The shopping center, built in the 1960s, is known for housing, in addition to stores, an urban pop rock culture that makes the place a must-see for fans of rock and heavy metal.
The good reception of Iron Maiden's sportswear among customers who are passionate about the band was just the first of many chapters for our brand in licensing. Other important names in world rock followed, and it was necessary to open a second location in Galeria do Rock, which welcomes the other licensees (so many): AC/DC, Ghost, Judas Priest, Kiss, Motorhead, Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer and Linkin Park. The progress of these commercial partnerships brought good moments for our brand, including meeting some members of the band.
In November 2022, during Rio Innovation Week, in Rio de Janeiro, Bruce Dickinson made a point of showing everyone our gift for him (hand-delivered hours before): the new Iron Maiden soccer jersey with the theme of Brazil. Little did the vocalist know that, at that moment, he had just anticipated our launch. In December 2024, Steve Harris and his friends from British Lions received our official products from our CEO, William. Even a West Ham football shirt, the boss's favorite team, autographed by Brazilian player Lucas Paquetá, was among the items. Little did we know that, at that meeting, we were already standing next to Simon Dawson, the new drummer for Iron Maiden (replacing Nicko McBrain), who was announced for the position the day after the meeting.
We had more than one licensing meeting with the band Kiss. In 2022, when it was all still a dream, and the second, on the band's last visit to Brazil (April 2023). On that occasion, we acquired a collector's item - which belongs to all of us, fans of the band: the last guitar broken by Paul Stanley on Brazilian soil. It is on display in our store 2, in Galeria do Rock, and attracts a lot of attention - as does the life-size Gene Simmons at the entrance.
Among the moments that deserve to be highlighted, we also have the arrival of Linkin Park to our portfolio, which was the result of an unprecedented partnership with the record label Warner Music in Brazil. We developed and produced the official items in record time and set up an exclusive pop-up store for the band for the launch of the album From Zero. The work marked a new phase for the North American group and the arrival of Linkin Park in Brazil, in November 2024. There were seven days of absurd movement in the store and throughout Galeria do Rock, where fans from all over the world waited for about 4 hours in line to visit the pop-up store.
To infinity and beyond: expansion, new licensing and a lot of work
Showing “Who we are” in just a few lines is a huge challenge. After all, it is difficult to give details of all the battles and achievements in such a summarized way.
- The factory currently occupies 800m²
- In total, there are four floors of production area
- 1 factory store - with sports items in general (Cachoeiras de Macacu/RJ)
- 2 brand stores - with band licensees in Galeria do Rock (São Paulo/SP)
But we can already say that the future holds many good things for us, which includes the expansion of our production space. Our commitments continue to be renewed - every year, with each new license, with each new client... We understand that our greatest challenge, over the years, is to meet the expectations of the public that consumes sports equipment and is looking for something that combines style, quality, comfort and the best cost-benefit. Consumers, fans, a super existing crowd.
With our passion for sports and rock, we have already understood a new reality for our brand. Now we are “from Cachoeiras de Macacu to the world”... beyond any limits - whether in creativity or territories. It is for these and other reasons that you can count on us. Not only for the game, but to live life!
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