Supporter Groups are volunteer run and a good amount of effort goes into designing, funding, ordering, receiving, and re-shipping merchandise. It's also the biggest source of funding, which goes to buy that merch, host tailgates, pay for newsletters, and other forms of member engagement and community support.

It's almost a running joke how many times a group will need to re-order soccer scarves each year. So many hiccups can happen along the way. Boxes get lost in Turkey. Merch is sent with the wrong colors or messed up prints. The list goes on. Vendors try their best, but some just don't have the logistical scale and discipline to be reliable partners.

Club soccer merch is also increasingly expensive year-over-year and almost prohibitively so for many supporters. For example, an authentic Austin FC jersey in 2021 was about $110. In 2025: $150. This is for an arguably less well-made product. Tack on the costs of attending a match, $30 dollar parking, $8 sodas, $18 beers, and the endeavor gets costly.

For Vans

Vans is exponentially smaller than adidas, who dominates the Major League Soccer landscape as an official partner. Vans also doesn't specialize in performance on-field gear. They do however, excel at creative solutions and have created comfortable footwear and clothing for decades. Expanding from skate to other fan cultures should be a natural fit, but how do they penetrate the soccer market while respecting the existing relationships at hand?

• Supporter Groups get a reliable and groundbreaking partner to design and produce custom merch at scale.
• Fans get to represent their favorite team with comfortable, quality, and name-brand products.

For Vans

• Bypass the teams and league to create direct relationships with supporter groups, the heart and soul of soccer organizations.
• Leverage their design talent and logistical expertise to provide quality footwear and value to fans.
• Vans gets to launch into a new market segment like soccer by working with the ideal customer profile and trusted communities like supporters for their products. They also create efficiencies by using tools and resources they've perfected serving the world of skateboarding lifestyle wear.

• Strong pre-order sales from members in multiple Austin supporter groups and individual fans — in addition to Anthem membership.
• Strong, clear communication from Vans on estimated production dates.
• Shipments arrived within a day of estimates - an impressive feat considering it was directly during the tariff drama in the U.S.
• High learned brand awareness of Vans in the Austin FC soccer community. Going from unknown in the segment, to a well-regarded name with fans with offerings at a premium, but not exorbitant price-point.
• Vans learning about soccer communities and gathering data and information to help build the internal business case to expand the offerings between Anthem, Vans, and other SGs across the United States.
• Strong interest in Austin Anthem continuing to expand the collaboration to include more merch — having a reliable partner and a centralized vendor for customized clothing, hats, footwear and more is a no-brainer.