NECK AND NECK. What began with 100 handmade necklaces sold at an Eau Claire Express Game has evolved into a business marketing to the NBA and the MLB.

"We knew we had something special,” Scott Vaver, one of the four founders of Hily LLC, explained when asked about Sport Braids, the new product set to sweep the nation starting in mid-February. One may wonder what makes a bracelet or necklace made out of braided athletic tape and a plastic connecting piece so special. 

Athletes from the NBA and MLB will be sporting the product to raise brand awareness around this time as well (some second-tier athletes already do, like Duke alums Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler).

The answer lies within the company’s history. In the summer of 2010, the product designer, Matthew McDaniel, sold 100 necklaces made of pink athletic tape for Breast Cancer Awareness in less than 30 minutes at an Eau Claire Express Game. His initial success led him to sell around 1,500 more bracelets that summer and an additional 400 in the summer of 2011. Shockingly, these sales were made without any marketing efforts. When approached in mid-August to launch a business around his product, McDaniel and his three business partners knew what they had to do.

Since launching their company in late August, the Sport Braids trend has continued to grow through social media and word of mouth as male and female fans and athletes continue to log on to the company’s website, SportBraids.com, to customize one of three styles of bracelets or necklaces. 

The company is now entering what Vaver likes to call “Chapter 2.” Unlike the previous chapter, this phase involves a larger investment and a great deal of marketing. Several sales representatives will join the company in January in hopes of preparing the product line for trade shows in Las Vegas in mid-February. Athletes from the NBA and MLB will be sporting the product to raise brand awareness around this time as well (some second-tier athletes already do, like Duke alums Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler). If all goes according to plan, consumers will be purchasing the product from local and national retailers during the spring season.