Does Nike Have A Ronaldo Masterplan? ⚽️ 🇵🇹
Plus, Chelsea end sponsorship saga and the story of Johan Cruyff's two stripe Adidas shirt.
Welcome to Athletic Interest.
Cristiano Ronaldo has around 600 million followers on Instagram. That means that the Athletic Interest account is only about 599,933,000 followers away from taking Ronaldo’s crown as the king of Instagram.
Most of Ronaldo’s popularity can be traced to his ability to play the hero on the biggest stage. The only problem here is that Ronaldo will not have his place on the world stage for much longer. He has already made the switch to Saudi Arabia and is unlikely to play many more seasons before retirement.
This raises an important question, not only for Ronaldo but also for his sponsors…What happens after retirement?
This question will be particularly important to Nike, which has a $1 billion lifetime deal with the Portuguese superstar.
For years, their relationship has been simple. Ronaldo scores goals in their boots and shirts and Nike uses its association with his greatness to boost sales.
But what about when Ronaldo no longer needs boots and shirts?
Well, Nike might have just given us a sneak peek at its future plans for Ronaldo, and it has a familiar feel.
In partnership with Nike, Portuguese side Sporting CP has unveiled a special third kit that features Ronaldo’s CR7 logo instead of the normal Nike swoosh. The collab has been labeled as a special tribute to Ronaldo’s early career with Sporting, but dig a little deeper and it feels a lot more significant.
Nike wouldn’t just give up valuable real estate on a shirt for a tribute. There are easier ways to do this, they could have simply added Ronaldo’s name to the collar or the sleeve.
Also, Nike didn’t just put Ronaldo’s name, they used his personal logo, the same one he uses for other products including perfume and underwear. This suggests that Nike is purposely trying to promote the logo to the public.
This isn’t the first time that Nike has done this. For several years, Jordan Brand’s Jumpman logo replaced the Nike swoosh on PSG shirts. The purpose of this switch was to promote the Jordan brand as Nike tried to expand it into Europe.
So, why is Nike promoting the logo of Ronaldo’s private business?
Well, Nike does have the right to use Ronaldo’s logo for some sports apparel products, with a small selection of CR7 branded joggers and tops available on the website.
This, however, is the first time Nike has actually put the CR7 logo on the shirt of a professional football team. This suggests that Nike is ready to expand the range of products that it sells under the CR7 brand.
Furthermore, Nike has always fiercely protected its right to use Ronaldo’s name in the field of sports apparel. When Ronaldo attempted to go it alone and create CR7 sneakers in 2015, he was told off by Nike and forced to cancel the collection. The website for CR7 footwear is still ‘under maintenance.’
This is a sign of the relationship between Nike and Ronaldo maturing. Both are preparing for a life where Ronaldo is no longer on the world stage and seem to have settled on sports apparel as one future avenue to explore.
The question that remains is whether this could ever develop into a European version of the Jordan Brand, an athlete signature deal that morphs into a full-blown apparel company.
It’s hard to say at this point. Jordan Brand may be a one-off. The shoes that they created together sparked a revolution within basketball and wider culture and allowed the brand to grow within that ecosystem. Ronaldo’s shoes and apparel have not really had similar effects.
There is one thing that is for sure, don’t expect to stop hearing about Cristiano Ronaldo just because he stops playing football.
👕🟠 While Nike loves Ronaldo, over at Adidas there is one name you should never mention…
Kanye West Johan Cruyff…
Why?
This little feud can be traced back to the 74’ World Cup Final when Puma athlete Cruyff refused to wear Adidas’ three stripes on his Dutch shirt. He walked out onto the pitch wearing just two stripes.
Cruyff actually managed to get Adidas to change their own shirt for a World Cup Final. This is one of the most powerful examples of a trend that has taken over modern football…player power.
So, what better way to understand this delicate relationship between players, brands, and teams than through this week’s video:
🍎 Sports Business Bites
🔵 Chelsea finally agree on a deal with a new shirt sponsor
This marks the end of Chelsea’s long and bumpy search for a new shirt sponsor:
An initial deal with streaming service Paramount Plus was blocked by the Premier League to protect the league’s current broadcast partners
A second proposed deal with online casino Stake was quickly dropped after fans led a backlash over the club promoting gambling in sports.
With all seeming lost, Chelsea unveiled their 2023/24 home kit without a sponsor.
With the season just days away, an adult subscription website offered Chelsea £40m to appear on the kit (this was most likely a PR stunt by the website.)
Finally, Chelsea have reportedly sealed a $50m deal with Infinite Athlete, a start-up that wants to revolutionize live sports through technologies like AI. This is a large fee considering Chelsea’s lack of Champions League football
🍎 Could Live Sports Save Apple TV?
If you love TV and film you could be in for a bleak few months with the strikes in Hollywood blocking most major productions.
This is bad news for streaming services like Netflix and Apple TV which rely on a continuous stream of quality content to stop users from ending their subscriptions.
Despite this, bosses at Apple TV don’t seem to be overly concerned. In fact, they almost sound optimistic. The reason? It’s partly Messi but mainly live sports.
With studios unable to create fake dramas for the screen, they have to look for it in its natural form. The purest form of this natural entertainment is live sports.
Apple TV knows that without blockbuster films, people will turn to live sports for their fix of drama. Luckily, Apple has one of the hottest properties on the market, MLS.
Messi’s arrival has drawn millions of new viewers to MLS and the Apple TV coverage of the league.
This has made Apple CEO Tim Cook very bullish about Apple’s future in live sports.
“Sport is the ultimate original story,”
Cook explained in a recent earnings call. “And for MLS, we could not be happier with how the partnership is going. It’s clearly in the early days, but we are beating our expectations in terms of subscribers. The fact that Messi went to Inter Miami helped us out there a bit. And so we’re very excited about it.”
It is unlikely that live sports will be able to fill the gaping hole left by postponed film and tv projects, but the ROI that Apple is already receiving from live sports may convince the other platforms to make it a major part of their regular offering going forward.
📱 Social Media Madness
🤐 Just before the Montreal Open tennis star Iga Świątek was spotted doing something very odd…training with tape over her mouth.
People began speculating online. Was she protesting something? Was this a new training technique? Or is she just weird?
Despite Świątek responding that she didn’t quite ‘get it either’ she did confirm that it was an exercise developed by her coach to improve endurance.
Apparently, breathing through the nose is more efficient and helps the body maintain performance for longer.
🥤 Prime Energy, the drinks company founded by Logan Paul and KSI, has just become an official partner of Bayern Munich. This follows similar deals with Barcelona and Arsenal.
This means that, if results go their way, we could have a Prime vs Prime Champions League final this year.
From a business perspective, Prime’s strategy seems relatively clear. After a strong start for sales in the U.S., the brand wants to expand to Europe and knows that partnering with some of the biggest football teams in three of the continent’s biggest countries is an easy way to establish a market position. Furthermore, Prime has come under some scrutiny over healthy concerns in recent weeks, what better way to change the narrative than becoming the official hydration partner of several elite sports clubs?
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