OREANDA-NEWS. Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. a subsidiary of Newell Brands (NYSE:NWL), today announced its exclusive status with the NCAA® as the Official Softball of NCAA Championships effective for the 2017 through 2021 seasons.

In addition to the softball being used on-field during NCAA Championship play, the five-year agreement grants exclusive rights to Rawlings to promote, market and sell the NCAA Championship softball through its retail channels.

"As we expand our product portfolio to include softball equipment and apparel, we understand the importance of partnering with strong, established organizations such as the NCAA," said Mike Thompson, executive vice-president of marketing at Rawlings. "This strategic alliance reflects our shared commitment to providing high-quality and high-performance products that competitive softball athletes demand and deserve."

"Rawlings is a well-known company with an outstanding brand in the sports industry, and we're honored to have them affiliated with the NCAA Softball Championships through 2021," said Keith Martin, NCAA managing director of championships and alliances.  "Providing our student-athletes with top notch products and strong affiliations is another way to enhance their overall championship and student-athlete experience.  We are pleased that Rawlings will support the NCAA Softball Championships and our female student-athletes at the highest level of collegiate competition."

As the long-standing official baseball of both the NCAA and Major League Baseball®, Rawlings is an established leader in baseball manufacturing. The Rawlings development and engineering group has extensive experience with softball manufacturing having previously operated in conjunction with their sister company Worth Sports®.

This season the top Rawlings Softball Advisory Schools—University of Oklahoma, University of Tennessee, University of Notre Dame, Mississippi State University, Oregon State University, Penn State University and Georgia Technical Institute of Technology—used Rawlings Softball products as a preview of the line available for purchase this August.