The Best Company for Custom Beanies for Sports Teams

When the temperature drops, a team beanie can be a pretty useful piece of gear. Players can wear them to early-morning practices and cold-weather games, and coaches, parents, and fans can use them to show their team colors on the sidelines.

If you’re ordering custom beanies for a team, though, there are a few more things to think about than just picking a logo and a color. Minimum order quantities, beanie styles, embroidery options, pricing, and delivery times can vary quite a bit from one company to another.

Some companies offer a straightforward selection of standard team beanies, while others have huge catalogs with more unusual styles and decoration options. A few are also set up for individual orders and online stores rather than one large bulk order.

Here are four custom beanie companies worth considering, depending on what you’re looking for.

BlueCotton

BlueCotton is a custom apparel company that handles all of its production in-house at its facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Keeping production under one roof allows the company to oversee quality throughout the process, with a nine-step quality control system that includes multiple inspection points and a free artist review.

BlueCotton’s catalog ranges from apparel to accessories and some promotional products, with a straightforward 6-piece minimum on almost all products, including custom beanies.

Pricing is based on quantity, and their Quick Price tool allows you to see how much your order will cost based on the beanie, quantity, and embroidery options.

Standard shipping within the U.S. is free, with a guaranteed delivery time of 10 business days. If you need the beanies sooner, a five-business-day rush option is available for a fee, along with super rush service on select products.

The beanie selection focuses mainly on classic styles and is smaller than what you’ll find from some other vendors, although many color options are available. If you’re looking for a standard team beanie that keeps the focus on your logo or team name, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Pros

• In-house production
• Nine-step quality control process plus artist review
• Quick Price tool for estimating order costs
• Free standard shipping with guaranteed 10-business-day delivery
• Five-business-day rush option, with a super rush on select products
• Straightforward website navigation

Cons

• Six-piece minimum means it isn’t designed for single-item orders
• Smaller selection of unique beanie styles
• Fewer decoration options than vendors offering specialty techniques

Best for: Sports teams and school athletic programs that want a straightforward ordering process, in-house production, and predictable delivery.

Custom Ink

Custom Ink is a well-known custom apparel vendor and has by far the largest catalog of beanies among the companies on this list. You’ll find a wide range of colors, brands, and designs, which can be useful if you’re looking for something a little different.

If all you want is a standard black or gray beanie with an embroidered team name, you may have to sort through a lot of options before you find what you’re looking for.

Custom Ink offers a guided online design process and free design review. The design is reviewed by a real person before production, which can help catch problems with artwork or placement before the order goes into production.

A lot of the beanie options have no minimum, and bulk pricing works on a sliding scale, which you can see on a quick table on the product listing.

For shipping, standard delivery is free and takes approximately two weeks. A one-week rush option is available for an additional fee. Super rush service is available on some products, though it isn’t offered for embroidered products.

The main thing to keep in mind is that Custom Ink uses a network of production partners rather than handling every order in one facility. That can be a consideration if you’re placing repeat orders and want the same production setup each time.

Pros

• Large catalog of beanie styles
• Many have no minimum order
• Guided online design experience and free design review
• Free standard shipping
• One-week rush option available

Cons

• Large catalog can make it harder to narrow down your options
• Small selection of beanies require higher minimums
• Production is handled through a network of facilities

Best for: Teams that want a broad selection of beanie styles and are willing to spend some time comparing their options.

Broken Arrow Wear

Broken Arrow Wear has been producing custom apparel since 1989, with in-house artists and production in Des Moines, Iowa.

Its beanie catalog isn’t as extensive as Custom Ink’s, but includes plenty of unique options like tie-dye and different pom-pom styles, alongside standard beanies. Most of the beanies don’t have a minimum order, although this can depend on the embroidery method.

Broken Arrow Wear offers more decoration options compared to other custom apparel vendors. Aside from standard embroidery, you can choose from options including puff embroidery, 3D embroidery, and custom patches.

That gives teams more room to experiment with the design. A traditional embroidered team name can work well for a simple look, while puff or 3D embroidery, a patch, or a more unusual beanie style can give the finished product a different feel.

The robust selection means there is more to sort through. If you already have a specific style in mind, the range of choices can be useful. If you’re starting from scratch, it may take some time to compare the different products and decoration options.

Here too, bulk pricing works on a sliding scale, but it takes a few extra clicks and steps to get the price you’ll ultimately pay compared with BlueCotton and Custom Ink.

Broken Arrow Wear offers free standard shipping with an approximate two-week delivery time. A roughly one-week rush option is available for a fee, with additional rush services available if you need the order one or two days sooner.

Pros

• Most beanies have no minimum order
• Wide selection including unique styles and standard beanies
• Multiple decoration methods: Puff and 3D embroidery are available
• In-house production
• Several rush shipping options

Cons

• Ordering process is cluttered with so many options
• Website and design tools are clunky and harder to use than competitors’

Best for: Teams that want more variety in their beanie style or decoration and are interested in options beyond the standard embroidered winter hat.

Printful

Printful works a little different from the other companies on this list. It’s a print-on-demand fulfillment platform designed primarily for people who sell products online rather than placing one large order for a team.

There is no minimum order, so you can order individual beanies as needed. Printful also integrates with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Etsy, allowing you to sell custom merchandise without keeping the products in stock or handling fulfillment itself.

Its catalog is smaller than the other companies on this list, and the beanie selection leans toward standard styles rather than unique designs. Some products are from recognizable apparel brands, while others are more generic.

For a sports team, this setup could make sense if the goal is to maintain an ongoing team merchandise store. Instead of collecting everyone’s sizes and taking one large order at the beginning of the season, supporters can place their own orders through the online store.

Printful’s typical production time is two to five business days, followed by another three to four business days for shipping. These are estimated delivery times rather than guaranteed dates, so teams working toward a specific event should leave some extra time.

The primary consideration is pricing. Printful offers bulk discounts on some products starting at 25 pieces, but the discounts are more limited than you find from a company focused on traditional bulk orders. Shipping is also charged separately rather than included as free standard shipping.

Pros

• No minimum order
• Online store integrations
• No inventory to manage
• International shipping available
• Useful for ongoing merchandise sales
• Straightforward website navigation

Cons

• Limited bulk discounts
• Shipping is charged separately
• Better suited to ongoing online sales than a one-time team order

Best for: Teams, clubs, and sports organizations that want to sell beanies online without buying and storing a large quantity upfront.

What to Look for When Ordering Team Beanies

Once you’ve narrowed down the companies you’re considering, there are a few practical details to check before placing the order.

Check the Minimum Order

Start by figuring out how many beanies you need. If you’re ordering for the players on a team, you may only need a couple dozen. A school or athletic organization selling merchandise to students, parents, and fans could need considerably more.

Minimums vary quite a bit between companies and even between individual beanie styles. Some products have no minimum, while others require a specific quantity before you can place an order. Check the minimum for each vendor or the specific beanie you’re considering before you get too far into the design process.

Look at the Available Colors

Team colors are an important part of the design, so check the available beanie colors before settling on a particular style.

If your team has very specific colors, it’s also a good idea to check how closely the available thread and garment colors match your existing uniforms or other merchandise.

Give Yourself Enough Time

Don’t leave the order until the last minute. Give yourself time to finalize the design, collect quantities, review a sample or proof if available, and allow for production and shipping.

If the beanies are part of a fundraiser, you’ll also need time to collect orders before production begins. Checking the vendor’s current turnaround time and guaranteed delivery information before placing the order can help you work backward from the date you need them.

Order a Sample When Possible

If you’re unsure about the fit, material, or color, ordering one sample first can save you from committing to a large order you haven’t seen in person.

This is particularly useful if the beanies will be sold as team merchandise. You’ll be able to check how the embroidery looks and make sure the finished product fits the style you’re going for before opening the order to the rest of the team.

Finding the Right Custom Beanie Company

The best option will depend on what you’re looking for in a beanie and how you plan to order it. On a quick comparison between Broken Arrow, Custom Ink, and BlueCotton using the same beanie, fabric color, and embroidery wording with a quantity of 10, BlueCotton’s price was significantly cheaper per item than the other two. 

BlueCotton and Printful have some of the more straightforward websites to navigate. If you want to keep the ordering process simple, BlueCotton is one of the easiest options on the list. Unsure of what type of beanie you want? Custom Ink has the widest selection to narrow your choices. Broken Arrow Wear is a good option for teams looking at specialty embroidery, while Printful makes more sense when you’re setting up an ongoing online merchandise store.

Start with the number of beanies you need, the style you’re looking for, your budget, and the date you need them. From there, you can narrow down the companies and specific products that fit your order.