Big brands, such as Nike and adidas, are "moving away from Top 14 rugby and are leaving the door open to new, more modest suppliers," according to Bertrand Lagacherie of L’EQUIPE. This season, Top 14 "saw new brands invest" in French rugby, namely BLK, Asics, and Kipsta. After 23 years of partnership with Nike, Top 14 side Stade Toulousain is now dressed by BLK, an Australian company specializing in rugby. At the club level, BLK supports the Pro12 rugby side Connacht, National Rugby League side Cronulla Sharks and Super Rugby side Queensland Reds. Next season, Top 14 side Stade Français will “turn the page on the flowery jerseys” and move to Asics after a long-term agreement with adidas. And this season, French sporting goods chain Décathlon, "through its brand Kipsta," became the supplier of Top 14 side Castres Olympique. While adidas continues to equip national teams, France and New Zealand in particular, it is "finished partnering with rugby clubs." As for Nike, rugby is “no longer part of the company’s portfolio.” Sports Marketing Specialist and Kedge Business School Professor Lionel Maltese said, “The problem with rugby is that it is limited to the commercial district. Northern France is not impacted, for example. The major brands have therefore less impact in terms of potential customers.” However, as long as these new brands -- "less prestigious brands for now" -- invest in Top 14, the clubs will not be “losing out.” Stade Toulousain President René Bouscatel, welcomed the partnership with BLK. Bouscatel: “We have a supplier who is entirely at our service. There is expertise, responsiveness. We can be restocked much faster than with Nike, with whom we had to provide the design and the materials of our jerseys two years in advance.” In short, it is the choice to be a “priority client rather than to be lumped in the crowd of secondary sports behind football” at a major supplier. While kit contracts total millions of euros in football, rugby "only requires a few hundred thousand euros." Hence, "the presence of new players." Asics France CEO Didier Dreulle said, “Rugby allows emerging companies to be able to stick to its image, to its values. Asics is not financially equipped to grow in football and therefore has preferred to move toward rugby which is closer to the Japanese culture, the battle, the self-sacrifice” (L’EQUIPE, 12/22).
