Value of shirt sponsorship

[Iceman29]

Personally I am delighted to see that nike's deal runs out at the end of this season and I for one would hope that we would then sign up with adidas after that

Why adidas?

They wont give us red sleeves for one.

You never know....they gave chelsea a zip

[Deise Gooner]

Personally I am delighted to see that nike's deal runs out at the end of this season and I for one would hope that we would then sign up with adidas after that

Why adidas?

They wont give us red sleeves for one.

You never know....they gave chelsea a zip

and a new kit kit every season

fuck it we'll go with Admiral

[Boomer]

Personally I am delighted to see that nike's deal runs out at the end of this season and I for one would hope that we would then sign up with adidas after that

Why adidas?

They wont give us red sleeves for one.

You never know....they gave chelsea a zip

and a new kit kit every season

fuck it we'll go with Admiral

But we get a new kit every season.
We alternate between either a new home or away each summer so that a shirts life is 2 seasons.

[Barriecuda]

I'm a really big kit enthusiast so I find the discussion of Adidas vs Nike quite interesting.

Nike's brand strategy typically is to support the "best" teams in every world sport; the "best" teams usually being a mix of success (obviously) and massive market share. Let's look at some examples:

New York Yankees & Boston RedSox & Philadelphia Phillies (baseball); Manchester United, Inter Milan & Juventus, Barcelona, Team Brazil, Boca Juniors etc (football); Team Canada Hockey, Team USA Basketball, Manny Pacquaio boxing, Tiger Woods golf, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal tennis

This all makes me think that Nike might simply not be interested in furthering their sponsorship with Arsenal. Or at least, they won't pay over the odds to do it. I'm also lead to believe this because Arsenal has continued to appear less frequently in their advertisements, although that is probably also due to their lack of trophies recently.


Onto the traditions argument. Nike goes for innovation and "cutting edge" looks, tradition is not part of their major criteria. After all these guys have changed the Barcelona kit style 3-4 times in 3-4 years. Adidas keeps tradition a little more important but will always plaster the three bars along the sleeves regardless of the kit, it's just part of their branding strategy.

If you really want tradition, I would say that the company right now that really embraces a clean, unassuming and classic/vintage look is Umbro. Since they're owned by Nike I'm sure that their parent wouldn't have a problem giving the Arsenal sponsorship to them, and I think Umbro would make some really clean kits. They've done some nice work recently with their new "Tailored by Umbro" campaign.

If you don't read this post, I tried to summarize it for you with bold

[Iceman29]

I'm a really big kit enthusiast so I find the discussion of Adidas vs Nike quite interesting.

Nike's brand strategy typically is to support the "best" teams in every world sport; the "best" teams usually being a mix of success (obviously) and massive market share. Let's look at some examples:

New York Yankees & Boston RedSox & Philadelphia Phillies (baseball); Manchester United, Inter Milan & Juventus, Barcelona, Team Brazil, Boca Juniors etc (football); Team Canada Hockey, Team USA Basketball, Manny Pacquaio boxing, Tiger Woods golf, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal tennis

This all makes me think that Nike might simply not be interested in furthering their sponsorship with Arsenal. Or at least, they won't pay over the odds to do it. I'm also lead to believe this because Arsenal has continued to appear less frequently in their advertisements, although that is probably also due to their lack of trophies recently.


Onto the traditions argument. Nike goes for innovation and "cutting edge" looks, tradition is not part of their major criteria. After all these guys have changed the Barcelona kit style 3-4 times in 3-4 years. Adidas keeps tradition a little more important but will always plaster the three bars along the sleeves regardless of the kit, it's just part of their branding strategy.

If you really want tradition, I would say that the company right now that really embraces a clean, unassuming and classic/vintage look is Umbro. Since they're owned by Nike I'm sure that their parent wouldn't have a problem giving the Arsenal sponsorship to them, and I think Umbro would make some really clean kits. They've done some nice work recently with their new "Tailored by Umbro" campaign.

If you don't read this post, I tried to summarize it for you with bold

Mate! You don't realise how important Arsenal are to Nike. Nike aim to sponsor atleast 2 of the top 4 clubs in the major european leagues. It will never let Arsenal go any where. That will leave it with only United and Villa in the most 'exciting' league in the world and that would be unacceptable especially as we also represent CL football. The United v Arsenal games are always built up massively at Nike Town in London and given the long standing relationship between the two entities, Nike are here to stay.

[augie]

Being here to stay iceman is dependent on the club agreeing to any new deal - personally I would hope that our ceo ivan is exploring other potential deals out there but am I right in saying that he used to work for nike ? Even if I am not could anybody rule out the possibility of our yank preferring to stay with an american company ? As I said previously I fcuking hate nike's kits now and hate the way they push that manure brand far more than ours and if the club is happy living in their shadows on this front then they should stay with nike but if they want to push their brand more, especially outside the uk, then they need to come out from the shadows and show some balls

[Iceman29]

Being here to stay iceman is dependent on the club agreeing to any new deal - personally I would hope that our ceo ivan is exploring other potential deals out there but am I right in saying that he used to work for nike ? Even if I am not could anybody rule out the possibility of our yank preferring to stay with an american company ? As I said previously I fcuking hate nike's kits now and hate the way they push that manure brand far more than ours and if the club is happy living in their shadows on this front then they should stay with nike but if they want to push their brand more, especially outside the uk, then they need to come out from the shadows and show some balls

Ofcourse it is based on the deal but I don't see any other brands that will offer us much more than what Nike will put on the table. The only two brands that will be able to meet our demands or even come close to it are Nike and Adidas. They put United first because of what United has achieved. When we match their achievements then we talk about a level playing field especially when we win the European Cup.
Also Ivan Gazidis is not a yank. As I stated on another thread he holds a British and South African passport. He has also never worked with Nike. He went to the states to work with a law firm and then went over to the MLS with whom he worked for 14 years.

[DB10GOONER]

Being here to stay iceman is dependent on the club agreeing to any new deal - personally I would hope that our ceo ivan is exploring other potential deals out there but am I right in saying that he used to work for nike ? Even if I am not could anybody rule out the possibility of our yank preferring to stay with an american company ? As I said previously I fcuking hate nike's kits now and hate the way they push that manure brand far more than ours and if the club is happy living in their shadows on this front then they should stay with nike but if they want to push their brand more, especially outside the uk, then they need to come out from the shadows and show some balls

Ofcourse it is based on the deal but I don't see any other brands that will offer us much more than what Nike will put on the table. The only two brands that will be able to meet our demands or even come close to it are Nike and Adidas. They put United first because of what United has achieved. When we match their achievements then we talk about a level playing field especially when we win the European Cup.
Also Ivan Gazidis is not a yank. As I stated on another thread he holds a British and South African passport. He has also never worked with Nike. He went to the states to work with a law firm and then went over to the MLS with whom he worked for 14 years.

For business sakes he can be basically considered a yank in all but nationality as he spent most of his working life within their business structure and his loyalty could well be to an American firm, no matter where he was born.

Also, he oversaw the MLS marketing dept so there is every chance he "worked for" NIKE - ie; would have worked hand in hand with them on numerous deals over the years and thus created and probably maintained business and personal relationships with many of their directors etc.

[Iceman29]

Being here to stay iceman is dependent on the club agreeing to any new deal - personally I would hope that our ceo ivan is exploring other potential deals out there but am I right in saying that he used to work for nike ? Even if I am not could anybody rule out the possibility of our yank preferring to stay with an american company ? As I said previously I fcuking hate nike's kits now and hate the way they push that manure brand far more than ours and if the club is happy living in their shadows on this front then they should stay with nike but if they want to push their brand more, especially outside the uk, then they need to come out from the shadows and show some balls

Ofcourse it is based on the deal but I don't see any other brands that will offer us much more than what Nike will put on the table. The only two brands that will be able to meet our demands or even come close to it are Nike and Adidas. They put United first because of what United has achieved. When we match their achievements then we talk about a level playing field especially when we win the European Cup.
Also Ivan Gazidis is not a yank. As I stated on another thread he holds a British and South African passport. He has also never worked with Nike. He went to the states to work with a law firm and then went over to the MLS with whom he worked for 14 years.

For business sakes he can be basically considered a yank in all but nationality as he spent most of his working life within their business structure and his loyalty could well be to an American firm, no matter where he was born.

Also, he oversaw the MLS marketing dept so there is every chance he "worked for" NIKE - ie; would have worked hand in hand with them on numerous deals over the years and thus created and probably maintained business and personal relationships with many of their directors etc.

Your first point is mere speculation as there is no way on knowing about his loyalties. As far as I am concerned his only loyalty should be to Arsenal.

I don't know how deep a relationship he has with Nike as the MLS signed a pretty lucarative deal with Adidas at the time of being created. So I do not buy your last point about his working hand in hand with Nike.

As far as business and personal relationships are concerned, all companies try and maintain the best possible relationship with their potential clients. Its business norm not to burn bridges with people who can exercise significant influence.

[highburyJD]

I know from AISA people that Gazidis is more serious about maintaining relationships with, and listening to, our fans than anyone else at the club has been

[Barriecuda]

Also, he oversaw the MLS marketing dept so there is every chance he "worked for" NIKE - ie; would have worked hand in hand with them on numerous deals over the years and thus created and probably maintained business and personal relationships with many of their directors etc.

That is pretty inaccurate I'm afraid. Nike has little to nothing to do with the MLS. There are no shirt sponsorships by Nike in the MLS, and as an above poster said, the MLS is in fact quite buddy-buddy with Adidas instead. In fact, Nike doesn't sponsor any football team above South America with the exception of the United States, which Nike has kind of taken under its wing.

Mate! You don't realise how important Arsenal are to Nike. Nike aim to sponsor atleast 2 of the top 4 clubs in the major european leagues. It will never let Arsenal go any where. That will leave it with only United and Villa in the most 'exciting' league in the world and that would be unacceptable especially as we also represent CL football. The United v Arsenal games are always built up massively at Nike Town in London and given the long standing relationship between the two entities, Nike are here to stay.

Well they currently sponsor Arsenal and are going to take every chance to build up their clients massively. I admit that Nike definitely likes to have two teams "per league" so to speak, but what my earlier point was trying to make is that (I feel) their first nor second choice will not be Arsenal if Arsenal fails to pick up silverware.

[Iceman29]

Also, he oversaw the MLS marketing dept so there is every chance he "worked for" NIKE - ie; would have worked hand in hand with them on numerous deals over the years and thus created and probably maintained business and personal relationships with many of their directors etc.

That is pretty inaccurate I'm afraid. Nike has little to nothing to do with the MLS. There are no shirt sponsorships by Nike in the MLS, and as an above poster said, the MLS is in fact quite buddy-buddy with Adidas instead. In fact, Nike doesn't sponsor any football team above South America with the exception of the United States, which Nike has kind of taken under its wing.

Mate! You don't realise how important Arsenal are to Nike. Nike aim to sponsor atleast 2 of the top 4 clubs in the major european leagues. It will never let Arsenal go any where. That will leave it with only United and Villa in the most 'exciting' league in the world and that would be unacceptable especially as we also represent CL football. The United v Arsenal games are always built up massively at Nike Town in London and given the long standing relationship between the two entities, Nike are here to stay.

Well they currently sponsor Arsenal and are going to take every chance to build up their clients massively. I admit that Nike definitely likes to have two teams "per league" so to speak, but what my earlier point was trying to make is that (I feel) their first nor second choice will not be Arsenal if Arsenal fails to pick up silverware.

We'll never be their first team, not in the near future at least given United's glamour and world appeal.

We are however their next best choice. There is no way of Chelsea and Liverpool defecting from Adidas, Tottenham have settled down with Puma and Man City are already with Nike (Umbro). Just like Barca and Atletico are their teams in La Liga, United and Arsenal are their teams in the EPL