Editing AND1 (section)

== History ==

=== Early years ===
In 1993, AND1 began as a graduate school project [[partnership]] of Jay Coen Gilbert, Seth Berger, and Tom Austin while they were graduate students at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]'s [[Wharton School]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=AND1'S LEGENDARY HISTORY |url=https://and1.com/pages/our-history}}</ref> The company name is derived from a phrase used by [[basketball]] [[Sports presenter|broadcasters]] to denote a [[free throw]]  awarded to a player against whom a foul has been committed while scoring a goal.

The brand started by selling T-shirts out of the back of a car.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} Early advertising strategies included other basketball [[slogans]] and [[trash talk]], such as "Pass. Save Yourself The Embarrassment".<ref name="chicago-sports-review" /> They marketed their shirts to street basketball players. [[Foot Locker]] began to sell the shirts, and within the second year of launching, the business reached 1,500 stores across America.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In mid of 1996, NBA star [[Stephon Marbury]]  became the first spokesman for AND1.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} With Marbury's signing, AND1 launched its first pair of basketball sneakers, its entry into the footwear category.
[[File:Taichissw.jpg|thumb|202x202px|A pair of AND1 basketball shoes]]
In late 1998, a [[videotape]] containing [[streetball]] stunts was delivered to AND1 by Marquise Kelly, coach of the [[Benjamin N. Cardozo High School|Benjamin Cardozo High school]] team in [[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. The tape contained low quality camera moves, poor resolution and nearly indecipherable audio featuring a [[streetballer]] by the name of [[Rafer Alston]].<ref name="wbur/and1-mixtapes">{{cite web |last1=Christian |first1=Olivia |title=DJ Set Free On The Origin And Legacy Of The And1 Mixtapes |url=https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2018/12/21/and1-mixtapes-basketball |website=wbur.org |access-date=July 27, 2023 |language=en |date=December 21, 2018}}</ref> At the time, Alston was a student at [[California State University, Fresno|Fresno State]] who had entered the [[1998 NBA draft]]. The videotape would soon be known as the "Skip tape", referring to Alston's streetball nickname "Skip to my Lou".<ref name="Original AND1 Mixtape">{{cite web |author1=AND1 |title=The Original AND1 Mixtape: The Skip Tape with Rafer "Skip 2 My Lou" Alston |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmoINTp6q24 |website=youtube |access-date=July 27, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> Alston later signed on with AND1.

In 1999 at [[Haverford College]] in [[Philadelphia]], AND1 shot their first series of [[commercials]] and [[print ad]]s incorporating [[NBA]] players [[Darrell Armstrong]], [[Rex Chapman]], Ab Osondu, [[Raef LaFrentz]], [[Toby Bailey]], and [[Miles Simon]]. When the traditional marketing campaign proved unsuccessful, a strategy was formed to use the "Skip tape". It was edited and reprinted into 50,000 copies, and over the next eight weeks, distributed across basketball camps, clinics, and record labels. The tape would become the first "[[Video mixtape|Mixtape]]", and quickly made Alston into a celebrity. When AND1 became a product partner with [[Foot Locker|FootAction]], this strategy evolved into a national program.

Starting in the summer of 1999, a free AND1 Mixtape was given with any purchase. Approximately 200,000 tapes were distributed in the span of 3 weeks.<ref name="chicago-sports-review">{{cite web|work=Chicago Sports Review |url=http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/redesign/inprint/contentview.asp?c%3D167978 |title=And1: Well-Fed Street Cred|last=Busbee|first=Jay|access-date=December 6, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311015616/http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/redesign/inprint/contentview.asp?c=167978 |archive-date=March 11, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Peak years ===
[[File:And1 basketball shoes.jpg|thumb|AND1 basketball shoes]]
AND1 began to recruit more and more NBA players to wear their product, including [[Latrell Sprewell]], [[Kevin Garnett]] and [[Jamal Crawford]]. AND1 products began appearing at [[Foot Locker]] and FootAction. By the 2001 season, AND1 was second only to Nike in market share among NBA endorsees. They later became the second-largest basketball brand in the United States only eight years after their inception.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/08/fascinating-look-history-b-corp-movement/|title=A Look at the History of the B Corp Movement|date=August 19, 2014|website=Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2016}}</ref>

AND1 summer tours, having begun in 1999, were expanded in 2002 into the Mixtape Tour with the release of Mixtape 3. Noted streetballers such as “Hot Sauce” and “The Professor” would go from court to court to challenge other streetballers in one-on-ones. The streetballers who prevailed through the very end of the summer tours would receive endorsement deals from AND1. From 2002 through 2008, the tours were televised live on ESPN under the name “Streetball” and competed with ESPN's “SportsCenter” for the highest ratings. The summer tours began in the United States but soon branched into more than 30 countries, with their products promoted in 130 countries and territories.<ref name="chicago-sports-review" />

AND1 apparel and footwear first appeared in the digital arena in ''[[Street Hoops]]'' in 2002, but in 2006 the brand officially made its entrance into the category, partnering with Ubisoft to release its first video game, ''[[AND 1 Streetball]]''. A mobile version was also released by Gameloft. The game featured a story mode mirroring AND1's "Streetball" series on ESPN, where players were able to create their own basketball player and enter him in the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour in order to get a contract with the AND 1 team. Along the way, players were able to create their own stylized trick moves and pull them off with a two-analog stick system called "I BALL". The games were available on both PlayStation 2 and Xbox and received positive reviews.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/and-1-streetball-ps2/|title=And 1® Streetball|website=Playstation|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2016}}</ref>

=== Later years ===
Following a short hiatus, the AND1 Mixtape Tour returned in 2010, then known as the AND1 Live Streetball Tour. The tour continued to expand globally as the AND1 team toured the world. They remained undefeated outside the continental United States until they lost to the debuting Puerto Rico Streetballers in 2012.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Over the years, AND1 has changed hands a few times, first being bought out by American Sporting Goods in 2005 and subsequently sold to [[Brown Shoe Company]] in February 2011. On August 25, 2011, AND1 was sold to Galaxy Brands, a brand management company based in New York. The company later merged with Sequential Brands Group,<ref name=seq>{{Cite web|url=http://ir.sequentialbrandsgroup.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=856388|title=Sequential Brands Group Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Galaxy Brand Holdings (NASDAQ:SQBG)|website=ir.sequentialbrandsgroup.com|access-date=April 25, 2016}}</ref> a publicly traded brand management company, but the personnel managing AND1 never changed. Under Sequential, AND1 has reconnected with its roots, signing marquee NBA players and sponsoring tournaments worldwide.

In November 2012, AND1 signed then-[[Indiana Pacers|Pacer]] [[Lance Stephenson]] to an endorsement deal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slamonline.com/kicks/lance-stephenson-signs-endorsement-deal-with-and-1/#EwOiwETzGOODREiU.97|title=Lance Stephenson Signs Endorsement Deal With AND 1 {{!}} SLAMonline|website=SLAMonline|date=November 26, 2012 |language=en-US|access-date=April 25, 2016}}</ref> Stephenson had won the NYC basketball championships in all four years of high school, and became New York State's all-time leading scorer in high school basketball, named [[Mr. New York Basketball]] after his senior year. He would soon sign a multi-year deal with the [[Indiana Pacers]], with AND1 signing him during his rookie season. Born Ready fit the AND1 streetball personality with his aggressive never-back-down attitude, which was put on national display during the 2014 NBA Conference Finals. Stephenson, who had led the league in triple-doubles that year and led the Pacers past the Knicks in the round prior, was paired against the [[Miami Heat]]’s [[LeBron James]]. From trash-talking to “mind games,” to even blowing in James ear at one point, Stephenson did whatever he could to get into James’ head and under his skin.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/lance-stephenson-blow-ear-lebron-james_n_5410487.html|title=GIF: Lance Stephenson Got Weird With LeBron|date=May 29, 2014|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=April 25, 2016}}</ref>

In celebration of their 20-year anniversary, the brand hosted the AND1 Labor Day Summer Remix, a $100,000 winner-take-all basketball tournament in August 2013. The tournament took place in [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia, and also included a $10,000 dunk contest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thehoopdoctors.com/2013/08/and1-hosts-100000-winner-take-all-basketball-tournament-at-temple-university-in-philly/|title=AND1 Hosts $100,000 Basketball Tournament Labor Day Weekend|website=The Hoop Doctors|date=August 28, 2013 |language=en-US|access-date=April 25, 2016}}</ref>

Paying homage to Brooklyn streetball culture, AND1 partnered with ''[[Slam (magazine)|SLAM]]'' magazine to host numerous events surrounding the [[2015 NBA All-Star Game]] (played at the [[Barclays Center]] in [[downtown Brooklyn]]). Various charity events with two of New York's greatest streetball legends Lance Stephenson and [[Rafer Alston|Rafer "Skip to My Lou" Alston]] were followed by the launch of an exclusive pop-up retail lounge on Flatbush Avenue across from Barclays Center.<ref name=IR>{{Cite web|url=http://ir.sequentialbrandsgroup.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=895849|title=AND1(R) Teams Up With ''SLAM'' magazine to pay tribute to Brooklyn Streetball and New York City Basketball Culture During NBA All-Star Weekend (NASDAQ:SQBG)|website=ir.sequentialbrandsgroup.com|access-date=April 25, 2016}}</ref>

Over one hundred AND1 High School and AAU teams play across America in various tournaments and leagues, and an AND1 circuit in the making.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://respect-mag.com/2016/02/and-1/|title=And 1 To Host Wellington March Madness Tournament {{!}} RESPECT.|date=February 26, 2016|website=RESPECT.|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slamonline.com/college-hs/high-school/and1-announces-tyba-3-session-circuit/|title=AND1 Announces TYBA 3-Session Circuit for 2016|date=April 13, 2016|website=SLAMonline|language=en-US|access-date=May 6, 2016}}</ref>  The company's annual overall revenue is approximately $140 million.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

In February 2015, AND1 signed a lease to operate a retail store at 172 Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn, directly across the street from the [[Barclays Center]]. This is the company's first street retail location.<ref name=IR />

In 2018, Kevin Garnett returned to AND1 as Creative Director and Global Ambassador.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://and1.com/blogs/news/kevin-garnett-talks-new-role-with-and1|title=Kevin Garnett Talks New Role with AND1, Future Designs and Growing the Brand|website=AND1.com|language=en|access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>

On August 31, 2021, Sequential Brands, AND1's parent, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/sequential-brands-files-for-bankruptcy/605860/|title=Sequential Brands files for bankruptcy|date=August 31, 2021}}</ref>

In September 2021, AND1 was acquired by Galaxy Universal.<ref>{{cite web |title=PE-backed Galaxy to acquire several brands from Sequential for $330m |url=https://www.pehub.com/pe-backed-galaxy-to-acquire-several-brands-from-sequential-for-330m/ |website=PE Hub|date=October 29, 2021 }}</ref><ref name=galax/>