Russell Uniforms Loses Contract With Major Leagues
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little business buzz. Baseball players change their uniforms every day, but now some of them will be getting a complete change of uniform. Here to pitch that story, Carrie Lee is back. Good morning.</s>CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well you may be familiar with the Russell sportswear name. This has been the label of uniforms for Major baseball players since 1992, but not for very much longer. Majestic has stolen home base. And starting in 2004, it will be the sole supplier of uniforms to the 30 Major League Baseball teams. Now right now two -- both of the companies split the contract, Russell Uniforms 15 of them, Majestic the other 15. Combined, the value of baseball agreements, and this includes jerseys, shoes, the whole kit and caboodle, is over $500 million. So big money overall. This deal, though, for Russell doesn't really equate that much money. The contract provides only 1 percent of the company's sales. The question is whether the loss of this deal is going to affect other Russell businesses. Interesting, because this company has really been supplying uniforms for baseball's Minor League, also the U.S. Olympics and Little League Baseball. We'll see if there's any ripple effect, Carol, but shakeup starting in 2004 so far when it comes to uniforms.</s>COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures.</s>LEE: Things actually look pretty weak this Thursday. After a mixed session yesterday, tech stocks fell. The Dow, though, ended higher by about 25 points, as you can see. One stock to watch this morning, Microsoft. Last Friday and Monday, the company's founder Bill Gates sold more than $75 million worth of stock. He stills owns a billion shares, so still a small chunk compared to his total holdings, but that's certainly going to be a stock to watch. The shares closed up about 1.1 percent yesterday -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee, we'll get back to you. Carrie Lee reporting live from the Nasdaq site in New York.