Manchester United confirmed to the London Stock Exchange yesterday that is is switching kit partners from Nike to Adidas from the start of the 2015/16 season.
Fresh from a World Cup where they had both finalists in their camp and Nike’s Brazil and the Netherlands were defeated at the semi final stage, it has been a good week for the German brand.
The deal itself is for ten years and will be worth a minimum guaranteed value of £750 million (€940 million).
It doubles the revenues earned through Nike which has been a partner since 2002 but which withdrew from its first refusal right on the new deal saying that what Adidas were willing to pay was too much for its shareholders.
Excited
“We are excited to team up with Manchester United, one of the most successful and most loved football clubs globally,” said adidas Group CEO Herbert Hainer.
“Our new partnership with Manchester United clearly underlines our leadership in football and will help us to further strengthen our position in key markets around the world.“
“At the same time, this collaboration marks a milestone for us when it comes to merchandising potential. We expect total sales to reach £1.5bn during the duration of our partnership.”
If those numbers are reached then it will be living up to the ‘dual branded licensing’ phrase which both sides are using by delivering an equal revenue bump worth €94 million a year to each side.
Adidas also have partnerships with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Lionel Messi.
Chevrolet will be the new sponsors on the shirts for the forthcoming season which will be the last in the Nike brand. The likely holding off from fans of buying when they know there will be a new first team kit in less than 12 months will now wrestle with the potential fervour of having Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal taking over and bringing stars from the World Cup to Old Trafford.
There will be an impact in Ireland as well as United remains the clear number one brand in terms of Premier League shirt sales. Lifestyle Sports, Elverys and Sports Direct may have to adjust their expected shirt sales as a result of the timing of the deal though that, together with a new Irish Rugby shirt from Canterbury and a Rugby World Cup in 2015 does promise that next year will be a bumper one for sports kit retailing.
