“We’re going to be very intentional about what we do with our merchandise going forward: the quality of it, the tentpoles in which we drop, and how and why we seed these products,” Robertson said. “We could easily go mass distribution, big box, but I think for us, being curative and having a story behind every single line is as important as the product itself.”

Throughout the process, Robertson has learned lessons about the supply chain, wholesale manufacturing, distribution, customs for international shipping, margins and other intricacies of the merchandise business. Ruggiero, meanwhile, noted that Sports Innovation Lab went from trying to convince people there was a market for women’s sports four years ago to persuading major players in the apparel market to scale up their women’s sports investment and prioritize it. 

But as Robertson and Ruggiero learned at Cannes Lions, change is coming. Ruggiero was on five panels that all addressed women’s sports and pent-up demand. Robertson, meanwhile, saw men at Nice’s Côte d’Azur Airport in Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 Indiana Fever gear.