Nike vs. Adidas: Battle For The Biggest Kit Supplier Deals In Football History

Millions are made in football kit supplier deals and the biggest rivalry in this business is the one between two gigantic brands – Nike and Adidas. The American and German corporation are constantly battling for deals with the world’s biggest football clubs and national teams.

In this article, we’ll take a look at top five deals with club teams and top 5 deals in international football today.

“We wanted Nike to be the world’s best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don’t end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.” – Phil Knight, co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc.

Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Arsenal are clubs with the most profitable kit deals in the world. Except for Arsenal (Puma), other four clubs have contracts with Adidas.

German multinational corporation proved its dominance in this race, but we must mention that Barcelona and Nike announced the 10-year extension to their current deal. According to many reports, Barcelona could get over €100 million per year for the next decade, maybe €150 million if they win the Champions League. Until we get official details of this deal, most lists will have the club from Catalonia at sixth place with €32m per year.

TOP 5 DEALS WITH CLUBS (earnings per year):

Manchester United – Adidas €98m (2015-2025)

Bayern Munich – Adidas €60m (2015-2030)

Real Madrid – Adidas €39.5m (2012-2020)

Chelsea – Adidas €35m (2013-2023)

Arsenal – Puma €35m (2014-2019)

Also, numerous reputable media reported that Chelsea will part its way with Adidas and sign with Nike at the end of this season. This will cost the club approximately €46.5m because they decided to end the deal six years earlier. According to some reports, a new one will get them €70m per year.

According to Total Sportek, the most expensive international football kit supplier deals are the ones of Germany, France, Spain, England and Brazil. With €50m per year deal, current world champions took first place on this list and you can’t miss if you take a guess who are they getting their money from. Of course, it’s Adidas, but unlike the previous top 5 list, it looks like Nike is having much more success in this race with three teams in it.

“If there was a new design that came to the market that Adidas did not make, I would break it down and make it better.” – Adolf Dassler, founder of the German sportswear company Adidas

TOP 5 DEALS WITH NATIONAL TEAMS (earnings per year):

Germany – Adidas €50m (2015-2022)

France – Nike €42.6m (2011-2018)

Spain – Adidas €40m (2015-2026)

England – Nike €34.5m (2010-2018)

Brazil – Nike €30.7m (2008-2018)

Conclusion

Most deals between kit suppliers and teams are ranging from 5 to 10 years. We can see that top clubs are earning more money than top national teams and that’s not a surprising fact. Clubs have more fans worldwide and they play way more matches every year, meaning they appear more frequently in the media. These factors provide more attention to brands which are investing their money. In this case, Adidas and Nike.

German brand demonstrated pure dominance in deals with clubs, having 4 teams in the top 5 list. On the other hand, Nike showed that they can be more competitive in contracts with national teams where they have 3 out of top 5, but still, Adidas is sitting on the top of this list as well with €50m per year deal with the world champions.

It looks like Adidas is winning this battle, but things could change with new Nike – Chelsea and Nike – Barcelona deals. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Article sources:

repucom.net
bbc.com
totalsportek.com
forbes.com
ibtimes.com
nike.com
global.adidas.com

Photo sources:

Nike Facebook page

Adidas Facebook page

repucom.net