Football players have endorsed pantyhose. They’ve endorsed motor oil. But the gear protecting their heads was traditionally off the endorsement menu. Helmet makers wanted players to choose it free of sponsor influence, and NFL helmets can’t even show logos. Enter Light Helmets, a closely held California upstart with a guerrilla streak. Its chief executive, Nicholas Esayian, calls himself “probably the most hated man at most of the equipment shows.”
Light helmet, heavy marketing
Light’s selling point is weight. Novel materials make its helmets lighter than rivals’, which Esayian says cuts the energy of head whip — the snap of a player’s head after impact. The company’s helmets top Virginia Tech’s protection ratings. Today’s helmets run from $200 to more than $1,600, and Esayian says Light is on track to triple sales this year to 20,000 helmets.
Still, Light is a 1% player. Riddell holds about 70% of the market, followed by Certor Sports, maker of Schutt and Vicis. Light’s answer is marketing, with pitchmen at every level. New Orleans Saints All-Pro Cam Jordan got equity and a seat on its player advisory board. Two University of Utah players have NIL deals — pay for a college athlete’s name, image and likeness — and some high schoolers got $500 or $1,000.
Then there’s K.J. McCarty, a 13-year-old Alabama quarterback and influencer who shows off a free Light helmet online; his father says the family earns a small commission on sales through K.J.’s page. When teams don’t give Light a fair shake, Esayian says, it goes to players through agents, family members or financial advisers. We’ll try not to take that personally.
What the buyers watch
Football’s gatekeepers are hard to dazzle. George Pellicer, head equipment manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars, offers every option, lets players choose and keeps staff in the room when equipment makers visit. At the University of Utah, the assistant athletic director for equipment, a Light fan, says only six of 107 players wear it this year. Geoff Meyer, president of the Chicagoland Youth Football League, put it best: “They have to be light years ahead of everyone else to gain ground.”
Meanwhile, a Texas youth group bought 110 Light helmets after studying the Virginia Tech ratings; endorsements had nothing to do with it. For Light, the ratings and the marketing happen to point the same way. Still, an endorsement tells you about the marketing, while an independent rating tells you about the product. When a brand does the talking, pay for the part a test can confirm.