EPL club Liverpool today announced that New Balance "will become their kit supplier from next season in a multi-year partnership that has become the biggest in the history of the club," according to Jack Bezants of the London DAILY MAIL. Warrior, Liverpool's current supplier, is a subsidiary of New Balance, "meaning the switch does not compromise the
current six-year deal that has been in place" since the beginning of the '12-13 season. The multiyear contract "means Liverpool's entire packaging for additional merchandising could be worth" a potential US$459.02M. The deal "will also see New Balance selling club products in its 500 stores across the globe" (
DAILYMAIL.co.uk, 2/5). In London, Joe Rimmer notes the "success" of the Warrior-Liverpool deal "encouraged New Balance to enter the football market and fold Warrior Football." Warrior will "continue to deliver products in sports including lacrosse and ice hockey" (
MIRROR.co.uk, 2/5). EPL club Stoke City, Primeira Liga club Porto (Portugal) and La Liga club Sevilla "will also have their kits manufactured" by New Balance (
THEGUARDIAN.com, 2/5).
THROUGH BALL: FORBES' Kurt Badenhausen noted New Balance announced its plans to "enter the soccer market in simultaneous star-studded events" in N.Y. and London. The London event featured Arsenal MF Aaron Ramsey, while the N.Y. event included Whitecaps D Kendall Waston. New Balance’s move "has been rumored for months." Warrior-endorsed EPL players include Manchester City D Vincent Kompany, Manchester United MF Marouane Fellani and Hull City MF Nikica Jelavic. All of the Warrior-sponsored teams and players "will move over" to the New Balance roster. Soccer is "still a small fraction" of New Balance’s $3.3B in revenue, "with running providing the bulk of the business." New Balance’s move is about "generating revenue from soccer, but also exposing the brand to a bigger audience to benefit its other product categories, most notably running" (FORBES.com, 2/4). BLOOMBERG NEWS' Kyle Stock wrote New Balance "has a strategy: to make really good shoes, put them on a few of the best players in the game and charge quite a lot for them." The company said that when it "unveils its new line of soccer cleats sometime in the middle of this year, the footwear will be on a par with the most expensive offerings in the market, which currently cost around $300." They also will "be stocked exclusively in specialty shops, not big-box retailers." But New Balance "knows it is a second-tier player." New Balance President & CEO Robert DeMartini said that the company's goal for soccer "isn’t to be bigger than its massive rivals, just to carve out" 10% of the market, or roughly $600M in annual sales. Despite this ambition, it "has no immediate plans to make soccer cleats for women" (BLOOMBERG.com, 2/4).
