The UFC has signed a licensing agreement with a mouthguard manufacturer that will distribute products bearing the UFC brand through a nontraditional channel: dentists.
GuardLab, a New York-based company that uses 3-D scanning technology to create custom-fit mouthguards, has signed a multiyear global licensing and partnership agreement with the UFC. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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| Photo by: GUARDLAB |
The deal is the first between the MMA fighting organization and a mouthguard company, said Tracey Bleczinski, UFC senior vice president of global consumer partnerships. UFC rules require its athletes to wear mouthpieces during competition.
“There is a potential for this to be a significant business,” Bleczinski said.
GuardLab makes not only mouthguards for athletes but
also mouthpieces that prevent people from grinding their teeth at night. Under the deal, UFC fans can buy the mouthguards with the UFC logo on them through GuardLab’s network of dentists nationwide or on the company’s website.
The UFC began considering a mouthguard partnership about a year ago, when several companies that make the equipment approached the UFC about a deal, Bleczinski said.
The UFC will get a percentage of every UFC-branded mouthguard sold. Bleczinski did not reveal that percentage. Also, the UFC will offer all of its athletes the opportunity to get a GuardLab mouthguard for free. GuardLab officials will attend UFC events to meet athletes, explain the technology and offer to custom-make a mouthpiece for the fighter.
The UFC employes 520 fighters — including 62 female fighters — representing 45 countries. Though all must wear mouthpieces during competition, no UFC athlete will be required to wear a GuardLab mouthpiece under the terms of the agreement.
“You never want to force anybody to wear [specific] protective equipment,” said Aidan Butler, GuardLab CEO and founder. There is a potential liability in requiring athletes to use specific equipment, and athletes are particular about what they wear and use in their sport, Butler said.
Butler founded GuardLab in 2014. The product is custom-made by dentists who use 3-D technology to scan the user’s mouth. The first mouthguard costs in the range of $250 and replacement guards cost about $150. “If we ever had a competitor, it would be dentists,” Butler said.
The mouthguard market incorporates everything from custom-fit offerings like those of GuardLab to off-the-shelf mouthguards that retail for close to $10. Players in the space include Shock Doctor, Mueller, Bite Tech, and Markwort.
GuardLab has a deal with Georgetown University athletics and is in talks with sports leagues, but the UFC is the first professional sports organization that has partnered with GuardLab, Butler said.
“This was all about validation,” Butler said. “If the toughest people in the world love the product, then you have the trickle-down effect to all of the sports and all of the athletes.”
