New Era buying '47 Brand? What is Happening?!?!?

[@rayleder3705]

I've got about 25 Franchise hats from 47 Brand. I'll take extra good care of them! Hopefully they don't phase them out!

[@tudormiller887]

I'm surprised NE didn't buy the Ebetts Field brand. I personally love thier retro & vintage hats. 😊

[@dreinthe616]

Weirdest thing is, I believe Lids bought Ebbets Field Flannels - so they were "off the market" so to speak. But I agree - love every EFF cap I've bought.

[@docsamson198]

This scares me. The two companies are very different. 47 for dad hats, New Era for structured hats.

[@NChapaWI9436]

And it should stay that way imo, as long as new era axes the 940 and the 920 and as long as 47 axes the captain. The companies should both play to their strengths!!

[@docsamson198]

@@NChapaWI9436 Agree!

[@dramatyst5661]

I think this was more to grab facilities, licenses etc etc

[@tudormiller887]

How about a combination of the two styles ? A structured dad hat ? 😊

[@Oreo108GD]

@@tudormiller887a dad hat is not supposed to be structured

[@elliotspencer1384]

Thank you, Doug. I have always been a fan of the channel and your presentations. Just as I watch your channel my cap collecting proclivities help provide an avenue to normalcy for me. Even when I was totally blind with the assistance of my kids, I kept them in order and wore them in the manner that I do. Everyone has a system, right? 😊

[@gfb6745]

Big man, you need to do a video for shaping the old-school 96 starter caps (shockwave, flame, big logo etc). They're old now, almost antiques in a way, but would be good to have some help to shape them without damaging them, or the use of starch.

[@JimKimTheIdeaHunters]

From my experience, the quality of 47 caps has been decreasing over the years whereas New Era has usually been consistent in their quality, at least with the 5950s. Being a NE guy myself, I don’t really see this affecting me as much as the 47 dad hat aficionados.

[@skilledbros]

The 47 hitch is the PERFECT hat for me so as long as the Hitch model doesn’t get modified or anything I’m fine

[@Praising_Pillars]

I I love all my 10+ hitch hats! Truly an underrated classic.

[@Spinks345]

Thank you Dre for the top notch content you always deliver. I wholeheartedly agree that this spree of acquisitions and mergers we have seen in recent years hurts the customer’s position and is only beneficial to those who are incorporated to the to the profits. I assume this is too small to get on the FTC radar? And where does this leave the IPO?

[@dreinthe616]

I'm honestly not sure what really gets attention from the FTC or other regulators these days - sure seems that tech companies draw more scrutiny than any traditional companies - but it would be nice to change that. Thanks!

[@TheFrogChannel]

Another thing to mention is how much control New Era/'47 has on the baseball cap market. Other brands make licensed caps, like Nike and Fanatics, but walk into any store and there's a high likelihood that an overwhelming majority of caps are made from New Era and '47. My thoughts on the post-merger New Era handling their products are that all structured caps will be under NE branding, and unstructured will be '47. The illusion of choice...

[@sowhenthen]

New Era 9Twenty hats, their unstructured hat, isn't the same. Lesser quality than a typical '47 Clean Up.

[@kitt3813]

Fanatics hats are awful

[@ghallonefive]

It’s like the ‘47 guys were waiting for their dad to die…

[@craigesanderson]

Always great content, Doug. I had not realized ACON was involved in New Era. And an IPO is planned? I was hired by an ACON held company, Funko, post IPO. Let me tell you how this will likely go. I’ll keep it short. ACON loves companies that hold licenses. Licensing deals, especially pop culture events, create fast revenue and keep brands relevant. ACON sucks the profits out of every company it holds. Pre-IPO, ACON extracted $98M in dividends from Funko. The Funko IPO was to recover that $98M in lost capital and get another $150M for growing operating expenses. The IPO was one of the worst in NASDAQ history. Funko never recovered financially and has been chasing cost efficiencies ever since. New Era will be forced to have the same playbook as Funko. Get a ton of licensing deals for both New Era and ‘47 brand. Think 5950 “limited editions” with the latest Disney movie release. Memes embroidered on a Snap Back. Shirtless Jason Kelce on a ‘47 brand sweatshirt. This merger and likely IPO driven by ACON will not be good for New Era, ‘47 Brand, or consumers.

[@dreinthe616]

Thank you for putting some real detail and insight into the comments... and what you've described is a scenario that I find very unsettling, since it fits with the idea of vulture capitalism disguised as "transformational investing"

[@craigesanderson]

@@dreinthe616 And today another ACON company files for bankruptcy and sells its assets. True Value Hardware.

[@ethane-dawgwenger4207]

Doug, I just saw a new New Era cap model called the 9SEVENTY, which, according to my research, is just a low profile snapback. What do you think of this hat?

[@dreinthe616]

Great timing on the question - I just bought one last week! I'm planning to post a short review soon, but the main points are that it's a "stretch-snap" and it has a pretty standard crown height actually. Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on it, thanks.

[@elliotspencer1384]

Doug! It’s been so long. I wanted you to know something. On March 1 I suffered an auto immune attack on my optic nerve, causing an optical vasculitis. It caused me to lose my eyesight. I went blind. I was blind for over three months. I regained some eyesight, but it’s very poor. I wanted you to know. Navigating KZbin has been a challenge. Only now was I able to send you a comment. Just wanted you to know what happened to me.

[@dreinthe616]

Elliot, this is stunning... I am sorry to hear that you had to go through this, I cannot imagine what it was like - and I certainly hope that there is a path to regaining something closer to your original eyesight. Thank you for letting me know - you have always been such a supporter for the channel that I was actually wondering what was going on! I wish you the best in your continued recovery, and if you ever restore an IG presence just let me know via DM.

[@marziewoolcock8953]

Hi Doug I'm a baseball cap fan from the UK, I have always loved baseball caps, since I was a kid, they have always been a bit harder to come by in the UK mainly in terms of choice of style. As a bit older age cap collector & female (not that that makes any difference) I prefer low profile, 9forty & 9twenty style. I recently started purchasing caps from the UK New Era site & Topperzstore UK/ Europe site. There is a lot less choice in the verity of styles especially Topperzstore UK/ Europe in the same team cap mainly MILB, but may I add both are really excellent companies with an excellent quality of service. I've noticed recently that Topperzstore have been selling 9forty A frames which seem to me a bit like the 47 Brand (which they do sell) style we can get here in UK so I'm not shocked about the take over by New Era because it seems the A frame is a similar style to the 47 Brand. I hope we dont loose more low profile/unstructured crown caps because it is already a more limited choice here in the UK. Many thanks for your informative video's keep up the good work 👍

[@kitt3813]

I'm in the uk too. A frame is nothing like the majority of 47 caps

[@johnjoe5860]

I'm a fan of New Era 5950s fitted hats, I love them & they Finnish off a fit. I to am from the UK so are choice is limited we have only 4 companies for the whole of Europe :- New Era, Topperz, Hatstore & FamCapStore. I shop at Topperz mainly, there the best hat shop by a country mile I really like there products. Hopefully everything will work as usual! 💯

[@dreinthe616]

I think Lids is also trying to expand in Europe, they had opened four UK stores last time I checked, maybe more on the way. My colleague the Captician has also worked with Topperz and I've heard good things, thanks for the comments.

[@damianangelov7796]

I Hope that This will not change the Quality of New Era

[@NChapaWI9436]

Honestly the quality of new era might go up 😂

[@LondonGooner]

47 is better quality they still use a cotton mix and the beak is better quality

[@dreinthe616]

I think it will still depend on the vendors that are used... New Era works with several contract manufacturers in different countries, so their quality varies a lot. I've gotten some great caps from New Era, but I've also gotten some really terrible ones too. I think that most '47 caps are actually more consistent in quality.

[@LondonGooner]

@@dreinthe616 I wish you lived in London so you could shape my new era caps for me 🤣

[@sowhenthen]

I'm worried about it going the other way around.

[@ethane-dawgwenger4207]

In what world does this make sense?

[@HEYDAYALLTIME]

Is 59fifty deeper than 9fifty?(Height)

[@stevewilson5402]

I feel like this was bound to happen, like Netflix being bought out by Disney.

[@GunJesus1776]

This sucks! I love both companies but I could see New Era giving us less product options now.

[@sersweetgooch]

Dreading this news. New Era caps have always sit on my 7 1/4 head like Abraham Lincoln's tophat. The only "square" fronted hats I can wear with dignity are the captain and hitch styles - both of which have an old-school 90's/80's feel to them. These, along with the mitchell and ness hats, have become my go-to and it took me a long time to discover them. Good thing is, I've got a decent collection and dont NEED more hats. On the other hand, any takeover for official clothing by New Era is welcome as they expand. Lord knows the MLB has had an awful season with the fanatics jerseys - absolute garbage.

[@sersweetgooch]

And FWIW, the '47 MVP is far superior to the 9Forty. Those lower-profile new era hats are way too round.

[@dreinthe616]

I've also become a bigger fan of the Hitch lately, and the 9Forty A-Frame - both because the comfort is improved with the single front panel and they have that crisp, tailored look.

[@sersweetgooch]

@@dreinthe616 I'll have to check out the 9Forty A-frames. Do you have success finding them in person (lids) or are you getting them online? I'm also desperate to try a retro crown in person but I feel like the options around me are only Lids and their New Era hats are either 9Fiftys and they rarely carry more niche lines.

[@kitt3813]

Don't you have anti competitive practice laws over there??

[@dreinthe616]

Yes, but unfortunately they are not always enforced with the same vigor over the decades... that's why I made the comment late in the video that I think a lot of the older "anti-trust" thinking needs to come back and be revitalized.

[@chamasjiro]

MONOPOLY...less choice and less affordable pricing

[@AbleMable]

That is TERRIBLE