Jump to content
  • Sign up for free and receive a month's subscription

    You are viewing this page as a guest. That means you are either a member who has not logged in, or you have not yet registered with us. Signing up for an account only takes a minute and it means you will no longer see this annoying box! It will also allow you to get involved with our friendly(ish!) community and take part in the discussions on our forums. And because we're feeling generous, if you sign up for a free account we will give you a month's free trial access to our subscriber only content with no obligation to commit. Register an account and then send a private message to @dave u and he'll hook you up with a subscription.

Recommended Posts

Guest ShoePiss
Of course it also helped that people had actually heard of Nike before they got into football.

 

They've been involved in Football since they first sold to the public. Their first ever product was called The Nike, it was a footy boot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First off I should point out I'm not an ITK, genuine or otherwise.

 

 

 

Even if Adidas had agreed to extend their deal, those shirts would still have had a 5-month shelf life remaining. Assuming Adidas continued the production cycle they currently use for Liverpool, we would have had 3 new kits (plus a new goalkeeper's kit) for next season anyway. The agreement had to be made official because the lead time for production is a good 6 months or so, and Warrior need the time to ramp up the marketing side. Not only that, but they also need to establish a distribution network for the merchandise given that they don't have the scale or resources of the likes of Adidas and Nike.

 

 

 

Would you, a club of high standing like Liverpool FC, want the announcement of such a size to be made not by the club but by the people who couldn't match the offer. Adidas have stolen the clubs fire out of spite and to make it look like it was their decision to dump us. As for Warrior needing time to ramp up marketing and establishing distribution, I would seriously worry if they haven't done this already. Giving themselves less than 6 months to get it done and dusted isn't very professional and would not set a good working relationship off on a good foot. You wouldn't fork out 25M a season and then play amateur hour with a number of high profile eyes on you. Just doesn't make sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They've been involved in Football since they first sold to the public. Their first ever product was called The Nike, it was a footy boot.

 

So people saying Warrior getting into football is similar to Nike are way off since Nike had both widespread market recognition and some football experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest ShoePiss
So people saying Warrior getting into football is similar to Nike are way off since Nike had both widespread market recognition and some football experience.

 

I'd agree with that, I reckon it's more hitech before they came up with hitech strada and silver shadow. You won't have heard of them, exactly!

 

Just joking about hitech, wonder if they're even still going...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are people really having a go at this deal and the brand name? It doesn’t matter a shite if the shirts are made by Pennys. People buy for the crest.

 

Warrior are a massive company managed by some of the biggest hitters in the sports world, so to watch the twitterati talking down such a deal is hilarious.

 

We’ve got £25m a season guaranteed. Guaranteed. With the possibility of it rising well above that if we are successful. The rise of the internet means that flooding a market is only a click away. Point of sale is easy in a world when you can get to Singapore in a day and fly back the next.

 

The biggest plus of all is Warrior have now invested heavily in a new sport for them. We’re their flagship in England and as they probably won’t be getting Real, Barca or Utd in the nxt year or so, we will be their biggest club. So we are going to get marketed within an inch of our lives, and that can only be a good thing.

 

With deals like this, the investment in young players, and the long thought out stadium issue, it is now 100% clear to me that FSG are planning for the future and not the immediate. I think we may have to put up with a few barren years yet when it comes to league titles, but I’m more and more thinking that future is very rosy for us.

 

I still want CL football, and a few cups along the way would be great, but if I have to wait 3 or 4 more years for a league title, then I don’t really mind if it means a return to long and sustained success.

 

Reading more about the Warrior makes me think we have the right people in charge. And while I accept that Ayre seems to be out of his depth as a CEO, I think we can probably all agree that as a Commercial Director, he is excellent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Liverpool expect to earn £300m from new kit deal with Warrior Sports

 

• Liverpool's six-year agreement is not performance-related

• Club deny Adidas deal cancelled due to poor performance

 

 

Liverpool say they expect to earn a staggering £300m through their new six-year deal with the US sportswear company Warrior Sports, and have denied accusations that underachievement on the pitch led to the collapse of their current kit deal with Adidas.

 

Warrior, owned by New Balance, will become the club's kit supplier from June having agreed a £25m-a-year deal to enter the football industry for the first time. The £25m per year is a guaranteed figure for Liverpool, not performance-related, and eclipses the £23.5m-a-year deal that Manchester United have with Nike but are currently renegotiating.

 

With Warrior, Liverpool will control all non-branded merchandising – products outside the usual kit range – and are free to open club stores wherever they choose. That is not the case under Adidas, who control Liverpool's kit supply and the sale of non-branded merchandise, and the club believe they can double the £25m a year from Warrior when the current restrictions are lifted this summer.

 

Liverpool's managing director, Ian Ayre, explained: "Our business is split in two. We have what you call kit, the branded products, the stuff the players wear, and that's the part of the business that the deal with Warrior covers. In our existing deal, there have been some restrictions on that in terms of the other unbranded products we sell, general retail. That sat within our deal with Adidas in certain lines and in certain markets.

 

"In our new deal, we have complete control of that. We will still work with Warrior, but we will have a much wider opportunity. That area of business currently represents 50% of everything we generate. The new deal represents half of what we currently generate, so we still have another opportunity to develop similar kind of revenues and that's what encouraged us."

 

Herbert Hainer, chief executive of Adidas, claimed the German company withdrew from negotiations to extend its six-year contract with Liverpool as: "We thought that what Liverpool were asking and what they were delivering was not in the right balance."

 

Liverpool have, however, secured a £25m-a-year deal despite not qualifying for the Champions League for the past two years and Ayre insists the club's global appeal ensured Adidas's requirements were met.

 

"I'm happy that we delivered absolute value for a partner like Adidas and we will continue to deliver that value for Warrior," Ayre said. "We shared all the numbers with everybody we spoke to and I don't think it would surprise anyone to know that Liverpool are one of the biggest merchandising businesses in football and we wouldn't have had so many people interested if we didn't have a great business. We ran a very exciting process over 12 months. We worked very hard to speak to every major manufacturer in the sportswear category and we had winners and losers. Some people are very disappointed and some people are very happy."

 

Rather than taking a risk with a company unknown in football – Michigan-based Warrior were synonymous with lacrosse and hockey before last year becoming supplier to the Boston Red Sox, the baseball club that shares owners with Liverpool – Ayre believes the club will benefit as the company's main priority. That, it is suspected at Liverpool, has not always been the case with Adidas. Liverpool's MD added: "What really encouraged us is that this is their first foray into football and so we are their only customer and they will be very focused on Liverpool Football Club and promoting this opportunity around the world."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are people really having a go at this deal and the brand name? It doesn’t matter a shite if the shirts are made by Pennys. People buy for the crest.

 

Warrior are a massive company managed by some of the biggest hitters in the sports world, so to watch the twitterati talking down such a deal is hilarious.

 

We’ve got £25m a season guaranteed. Guaranteed. With the possibility of it rising well above that if we are successful. The rise of the internet means that flooding a market is only a click away. Point of sale is easy in a world when you can get to Singapore in a day and fly back the next.

 

The biggest plus of all is Warrior have now invested heavily in a new sport for them. We’re their flagship in England and as they probably won’t be getting Real, Barca or Utd in the nxt year or so, we will be their biggest club. So we are going to get marketed within an inch of our lives, and that can only be a good thing.

 

With deals like this, the investment in young players, and the long thought out stadium issue, it is now 100% clear to me that FSG are planning for the future and not the immediate. I think we may have to put up with a few barren years yet when it comes to league titles, but I’m more and more thinking that future is very rosy for us.

 

I still want CL football, and a few cups along the way would be great, but if I have to wait 3 or 4 more years for a league title, then I don’t really mind if it means a return to long and sustained success.

 

Reading more about the Warrior makes me think we have the right people in charge. And while I accept that Ayre seems to be out of his depth as a CEO, I think we can probably all agree that as a Commercial Director, he is excellent.

 

The shirts might sell because of the name but I'd wager a good chunk of money that the training and leisure gear won't sell half as well as the adidas stuff. Of course the brand matters to people, it would be foolish to think othewise. Warrior's parent company might be massive but let's be honest, none of us knew who they were when the deal was mooted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The shirts might sell because of the name but I'd wager a good chunk of money that the training and leisure gear won't sell half as well as the adidas stuff. Of course the brand matters to people, it would be foolish to think othewise. Warrior's parent company might be massive but let's be honest, none of us knew who they were when the deal was mooted.

 

People don't buy football gear as a fashion statement! Well, other than Evertonians and Geordies, normal people don't buy football gear as a fashion statement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They're giving us £25m every year. The kits will sell like hot cakes whatever logo is on the shirt, as they always do. I'm excited to see what they're going to bring, a lot of talk has been of them having some fantastic ideas that will really shake up the game. We'll see. Stop bloody moaning people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion they won't buy training gear that has no brand.

 

That’s where good marketing comes in and decent looking clobber comes in.

 

If Warrior get Messi or other top names as their main man, then Warrior becomes the new fashionable name on the block very very quickly.

 

My mate works for Puma Golf and the difference it made when they got Rickie Fowler was ridicules.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s where good marketing comes in and decent looking clobber comes in.

 

If Warrior get Messi or other top names as their main man, then Warrior becomes the new fashionable name on the block very very quickly.

 

My mate works for Puma Golf and the difference it made when they got Rickie Fowler was ridicules.

 

Two things.

 

1) When Puma were getting into golf at least people knew who Puma were.

 

2) I'll bet you £20 that Messi will not go to Warrior. They can "say" they're bidding for Messi but that doesn't mean they have any sort of chance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion they won't buy training gear that has no brand.

 

Well Warrior is a strong brand in America, so that isn't a problem.

 

Addidas is behind Nike and Li Ning in China, and the Asian market are open to new brands, so I don't think they will be a problem.

 

And liverpool fans will buy liverpool apparell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well Warrior is a strong brand in America, so that isn't a problem.

 

Addidas is behind Nike and Li Ning in China, and the Asian market are open to new brands, so I don't think they will be a problem.

 

And liverpool fans will buy liverpool apparell.

 

A strong brand in America? They make Lacrosse stuff and a bit of ice hockey stuff. Their brand isn't featured in any of the four major US sports leagues. So how did you come to the conclusion that it's a strong brand in the US?

 

As for China, the Asian market is overrated for me as I think it's awash with dodgy replicas and people who can't afford over priced footy shirts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two things.

 

1) When Puma were getting into golf at least people knew who Puma were.

 

2) I'll bet you £20 that Messi will not go to Warrior. They can "say" they're bidding for Messi but that doesn't mean they have any sort of chance.

 

1) That is of course true. But the golf clothing world was locked up by Nike thanks to Woods, with the higher end of Lyle & Scott, and Ashworth taking most everything else. Puma were there for a while but selling sod all. They got Fowler on board and it sky rocketed.

 

2) Very true if course. They may not. And Messi might not be the man to go for anyway. In fact, they should get on the Baloteli band wagon, or Bale, and the likes of those. It's not about being the best, but the most marketable.

 

You seem amazingly negative towards this deal given we are guaranteed £25m a year, and can then push on from that and earn more with good marketing and the limitless appeal of a new brand starting out in this sport. I really don't get it as this ticks all the boxes for promotional opportunities. It’s a marketing mans dream as they can come in aggressive against the usual “older style” companies like Adidas with promotion of this brand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A strong brand in America? They make Lacrosse stuff and a bit of ice hockey stuff. Their brand isn't featured in any of the four major US sports leagues. So how did you come to the conclusion that it's a strong brand in the US?

 

As for China, the Asian market is overrated for me as I think it's awash with dodgy replicas and people who can't afford over priced footy shirts.

 

Right, they can afford £25million pound a year, so they are not some little known company servicing the odd sporting niche!

 

They want to break into the market and are paying us to do so.

 

Umbro are the second largest footballing manufacturer, and I wouldn't exactly call them 'fashionable'. Would you be so dismissive of them?

 

And the Chinese market, and the asian market is one of the fastest growing, and the main focus of all sportswear manufacturers, because it is huge. Despite counterfiting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) That is of course true. But the golf clothing world was locked up by Nike thanks to Woods, with the higher end of Lyle & Scott, and Ashworth taking most everything else. Puma were there for a while but selling sod all. They got Fowler on board and it sky rocketed.

 

2) Very true if course. They may not. And Messi might not be the man to go for anyway. In fact, they should get on the Baloteli band wagon, or Bale, and the likes of those. It's not about being the best, but the most marketable.

 

You seem amazingly negative towards this deal given we are guaranteed £25m a year, and can then push on from that and earn more with good marketing and the limitless appeal of a new brand starting out in this sport. I really don't get it as this ticks all the boxes for promotional opportunities. It’s a marketing mans dream as they can come in aggressive against the usual “older style” companies like Adidas with promotion of this brand.

 

Reebok are a larger company and are now owned by adidas. That brand couldn't crack football. Once again we were on board with a company that gave us good money and was intent on breaking into football. They couldn't do it. So a company that no one's ever heard of and backed by a running shoe company famous for making their shoes in the US doesn't fill me with confidence. I think we've sacraficed adidas's global recognition, marketing and distribution for something that will make us straight up money but will reduce our chances of growing the LFC brand into other avenues like retro wear, boots and leisure wear.

 

Right, they can afford £25million pound a year, so they are not some little known company servicing the odd sporting niche!

 

They want to break into the market and are paying us to do so.

 

Umbro are the second largest footballing manufacturer, and I wouldn't exactly call them 'fashionable'. Would you be so dismissive of them?

 

And the Chinese market, and the asian market is one of the fastest growing, and the main focus of all sportswear manufacturers, because it is huge. Despite counterfiting.

 

Umbro are owned by Nike. Nike use them as a more traditional brand, hence the whole "tailored by Umbro" marketing they use for their kits these days. And whilst the Chinese market is growing I think the majority of the people over there that follow football are as interested in the players themselves as they are the clubs. Hence all those pictures of those Asian fans buying Madrid shirts after Beckham went there, although I'd acknowledge that is the extreme end of the spectrum. I think the counterfiting scene is a major problem over there, as is the price that companies charge for footy shirts over there. It's overrated for me.

 

 

It's not like I want the club to fail with this deal but I can't abide people making out that we've been dead clever when Warrior are a complete unknown in football. It might work out, it might not but the precedent for companies trying stuff like this isn't good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share


×
×
  • Create New...