Sponsors believe that extra helmet padding is too expensive and that medical

treatment is sufficient . Obviously most of football equipment isnt cheap so this

causes a problem for getting more equipment for teams. Helmets are the most
important part of equipment. As the head moves back and forth, the brain can actually

move within the skull and when this happens, you can get brain injuries. During regular activity,
the brain is protected by a fluid that keeps the soft organ from banging against the hard skull.
Force to the head, a direct hit, fall or collision, can send the brain crashing into the skull wall,
causing a concussion even when no cuts or bruises are visible. Recent evidence suggests that
concussions are caused by rotational motion, rather than angular or forward and backward
motion. The Zero1 helmet is designed to address not just linear forces acting upon football
players heads but also angular and rotational acceleration. The idea is pretty simple and rooted
in physics. If force is the product of mass and acceleration and you cant change the mass of a
football player (football players can deliver up to one ton of force), a helmet must address
acceleration if its going to impact force. In addition to improving equipment, football scientist
want to create a better helmet that has a second mind. With a $1,500 price tag far exceeding
the cost of other helmets on the market which go for anywhere between $150 and $400 the Zero1
is not a cheap helmet and VICIS is entering a market that has been dominated by a handful of
companies most notably Riddell for decades. While other companies such as Xenith have tried
to crack the helmet market, the price of the Zero1 helmet wont make it easier for VICIS to grab
market share, but Marver is not worried about the VICIS helmet making a mark. You cant
really look at todays pricing as rational. It is not value-based pricing. In fact shoulder pads cost
more than helmets, scientist didnt seek to make the least expensive helmet but wanted to
develop the best helmet that they could, the safest helmet that they could. VICIS business plan
calls for a measured rollout of the Zero1, which will first be made available to select NFL teams

and collegiate football players. Marver said that the goal is to work with stakeholders athletic
trainers, coaches and athletes at these elite levels of play to improve the helmets design before
rolling it out to high school and youth football players. This is not our last helmet, this is our
first helmet. Another point is VICIS want to improve this helmet over time and we can do a
much better job of that with the help of athletic trainers and equipment managers, VICIS plans
to add modifiers as it releases new versions of the helmet such as the Zero2 and the Zero3.
Marver said that the Zero represents the companys commitment to zero defects, zero
excuses. Ultimately, VICIS plans to make the helmet more affordable and accessible for
younger players. There are nearly six million tackle football participants in the United States,
according to a 2015 Sports & Fitness Industry Association report. Between 2009 and 2014,
participation in the sport fell by 3.7% which may be associated with the growing awareness of
the dangers of football. The NFL has a vested interest in keeping kids in the sport and to do so it
must address the concussion problem. If VICIS Zero1 can be part of the solution, that certainly
benefits the NFL. Regardless, a helmet will never be the panacea the league needs. Manley
stressed that concussions will never be fully preventable(Abigail Tracy, forbes staff).