In 1920, Ehrhardt Koch borrowed $1,000 from his sister, Rose, and

$1,000 from his co-worker Joe and started his own cap company, the "E.
Koch Cap Company." Production started on the third floor of 1830
Genesee Street in Buffalo, New York. The company started with 14
employees, including Ehrhardt’s sister Rose, Ehrhardt's son, Harold, and
Rose's son Wally Domas. In 1920, the company produced 60,000 caps.
In 1934, New Era began producing caps for the Cleveland Indians, which
would be their first Major League Baseball (MLB) contract. In 1954, the
company’s fitted pro cap was modernized, redesigned and named
the 59Fifty, aka the "Brooklyn Style" cap, by Harold Koch, who introduced
many design improvements and innovations while head of New Era. By
1965, New Era was supplying caps to about 10 of the 20 MLB teams. In
1993, New Era was granted the first exclusive license with MLB to
produce the on-field baseball caps for all of its (then 28, now 30) teams.
In 2001, Chris Koch was named CEO. In the 2010s, while New Era had
long been associated with baseball, the company focused on delving into
football and other sports leagues. In 2012, it acquired full exclusive
sideline rights for the National Football League (NFL). In 2013, New Era
signed with Australian cricket's Big Bash League as their official cap
provider. New Era signed an additional deal in 2015 with Manchester
United. In 2017, New Era signed exclusive rights for NBA on-court
product. This made New Era the first headwear company to have
exclusive rights for MLB, the NFL, and the NBA simultaneously.
It was announced on August 13, 2016, that New Era and the Buffalo
Bills reached an agreement for naming rights for Ralph Wilson Stadium.
[1]
 The Bills and New Era officially announced the stadium's new name
of New Era Field five days later, on August 18, 2016.[2] After the Bills
released CEO Russ Brandon in May 2018, New Era hired Brandon in an
executive position.[3] A day later, New Era denied the hiring had taken
place.[4] The Athletic, which made the initial claim, continues to insist the
hiring happened and that Brandon had been quietly fired after the story
broke.[5]
On September 12, 2018, it was announced that New Era would be the
official outfitter for the Canadian Football League starting in the 2019
season.[6] The company has been a licensee of the CFL for headwear and
apparel since January 2011 and it will be the first time that the company
provides football uniforms and sideline apparel.[6][7]

Cap recalls[edit]
In the summer of 2007, New Era voluntarily pulled three styles of New
York Yankees hats from shelves across the country because the designs
on the caps were seen to be gang-related. There were three caps that
stood out; two with a bandanna like pattern around the top and one with a
gold crown. Brian Martinez, an NYPD detective involved with Peace on
the Street said "Bandannas represent gang flags," "New Era is making it
really convenient for gang members, because now your flag is part of
your hat." The patterns on the hats were similar to the flags of the Crips,
the Bloods and the Latin Kings. Much of the New York public protested
about the caps and in response to these allegations, a New Era
spokesperson stated that the company does not market to gangs and
when notified by activist groups and public officials, the company took
immediate action.[8]