The Controversial Deal That Changed Nike Forever
and why loads of NFL fans have become clowns 🤡 - Athletic Interest Weekly #11
How did a kit sponsorship deal between Nike and Brazil lead to both incredible success and a national scandal?
In this video, we explore how a 3-0 loss to France, a little bit of government corruption, and Nike’s insatiable desire to take on Adidas completely revolutionized Brazil’s relationship with football.
🤪 Weird (but Wonderful) Deal of the Week the last 30 days
Ronaldo Buys Boyhood Club
One of the weirdest side effects of there being two world-famous footballers called Ronaldo is that you now have to be very careful when you ask your barber for the ‘Ronaldo Hairstyle’… just ask this kid!
The Brazilian Ronaldo gained a worldwide reputation, not just for his impressive hairstyles, but also for his incredible career as a center forward.
Now it seems that Ronaldo is trying to build a similar reputation in business by going back to where it all began and purchasing his boyhood club Cruzeiro.
Ronaldo, who played for Cruzeiro from 1993-1994, has teamed up with Brazilian investment bank XP to purchase a majority stake in the club for a reported 400 million reais ($70 million.)
Cruzeiro currently sits in the Brazilian second division and Ronaldo has promised to take them to where they ‘deserve to be.’
"We have a lot of hard work to do. There's nothing to celebrate yet but we bring a lot of hard work and the ambition to make Cruzeiro great again." explained Ronaldo.
"It's my turn to try and open doors for the team. Not as a hero. Not with superpowers to single-handedly change reality. But with immense responsibility. With intelligent and sustainable management for medium- and long-term growth." He continued via Instagram
This is Ronaldo’s second foray into football club ownership after he bought a 51% stake in Spanish club Real Valladolid in 2018.
The deal is incredibly significant for the future of Brazilian football, as it comes a few months after the Brazilian Congress sanctioned a law allowing football clubs, historically fan-owned and closed off to outside investors, to become businesses.
This could be the beginning of a huge influx of money into Brazilian football, and fans will be glad to see their own legends leading the charge.
✍️ Deal of the Week
The Athletic Buys the New York Times 🤑
oh, wait, it’s the other way around… sorry, a force of habit.
Yes, the Athletic has been purchased by newspaper giant the New York Times. This news is beautifully ironic. The Athletic, the startup that promised to destroy traditional media, has been purchased by one of the most famous ‘traditional media’ companies.
The Athletic’s campaign for dominance of sports journalism has gained the company a reputation for purchasing or sponsoring pretty much every blog, Youtube channel, or podcast in existence. They even pinched some of the most renowned journalists from local newspapers, promising them higher wages.
The phrase ‘This podcast is now brought to you by The Athletic’ became so common that people even joked that their parents were now sponsored by the Athletic.
With the company spending lots of money and famously offering $1 a month subscriptions, it’s not surprising that they were having money troubles.
The startup has lost around $150 million since 2019, and even the most optimistic estimates say the company will keep losing money until 2023.
But in many ways, this is all going to plan. The massive acquisition campaign and the low subscription fees have been part of a calculated effort to undercut traditional media and quickly gain subscribers, making the company attractive to investors.
But ironically the only way to maintain the position they had created by trying to destroy traditional media…was to be purchased by the traditional media.
The New York Times is said to have paid $550 million for the Athletic, which is less than the $750 million the company was hoping for.
So, why would they purchase a company that is losing so much money? In many ways, the NYT is following the same strategy as the Athletic…buying subscribers. The Times wants to go from 8 million to 10 million subscribers and will be happy to gain the Athletics pool of over 1 million subscribers. On top of that, the NYT is now able to offer access to the Athletic as an extra incentive to entice new subscribers.
The Times does not have the best history when it comes to acquiring other companies. In 1993, they purchased the Boston Globe for $1.1 billion but sold it twenty years later for just $70 million. In 2005, the Times purchased About.com for $410 million, but could only get about $300 million when selling the site 7 years later.
While current reports suggest that the Athletic will remain separate from the NYT, it will be interesting to see what comes of the ‘newspaper killer’ now that it is essentially a newspaper.
🗞 Story of the Week
French Athletics Doesn’t Like Cocks 🐓
It won’t be difficult to spot the French Olympians at the upcoming Olympic Games, because most will be walking around with massive cocks on their shirts.
Yes, French apparel company Le Coq Sportif has signed a deal with the French Olympic Federation to put their famous Cockerel logo on the clothing worn by French Olympians during the opening/ceremonies, when in the athlete’s village, and while on the medal podium.
Le Coq Sportif is also planning to supply the official kits for each sport, but the individual federations are allowed to enter into their own agreements with alternative kit suppliers.
The French Federation of Athletics has already decided to have Adidas, and not Le Coq, supply its athletes with kits for the upcoming Beijing and Paris Olympics.
"The Paris Olympic Games in 2024 are a real opportunity for us," explained FFA general director Souad Rochdi to L'Equipe.
"We had a lot of positive feedback from equipment manufacturers, and it was Adidas that best met our ambitious expectations.”
"The contract lasts until 2025, but we are already looking forward to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The objective is to build a long-term partnership with Adidas.” Rochdi continued.
Having their brand associated with the host nation at the Paris 2024 games could be lucrative for Adidas, with French athletes likely to draw massive attention as they compete on their home turf.
Rejecting Le Coq will not be cheap for the FFA, with the federation agreeing to contribute €400,000 to a "solidarity fund" set up by the French Olympic Committee, following its decision to go with Adidas.
📱 Social Media Madness of the Week
Clown Show in the NFL 🤡
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a terrible season! The NFL team won just 4 of the 17 games played in the AFC South this season, finishing bottom of the standings.
Despite this embarrassing run of results, team owner Shad Khan has reportedly decided to stick with General Manager Trent Baalke. This move has angered fans who decided that the best way to show their frustration was to put on a little clown show.
First, thousands of fans changed their social media profile pics to images of a clown sporting the mustache of team owner Khan. Then, they replied to every single post by the Jaguars with clown emojis. The third and final step came when the Jaguars took on the Colts in the final game of the season…
Just in case Khan was not quite getting the message thousands of fans turned up to watch the game wearing red rubber noses, face paint, and colorful wigs.
While Khan shows no sign of listening to his team’s fans, the sponsors certainly are.
Jaguars sponsor, RoofClaim.com, has said they want no part of the “clown game” and is suing to get out of a sponsorship agreement with the team.
The brand has accused the Jaguars of creating saying a“toxic environment” that is a “detriment” to their continued relationship.