LIVERPOOL FC have expressed their dismay after comments from a high ranking official at sportswear giant Adidas claimed the club priced themselves out of a new kit deal.
The contract as the Reds’ supplier expires at the end of this season and despite holding talks over extending the partnership with Adidas, Liverpool FC are understood to have reached an agreement with American brand Warrior Sports instead.
Reported to have been struck in April last year, and said to be worth £25m a year – trumping Manchester United’s contract with Nike which ploughs a reported £23.5m into the coffers at Old Trafford ever 12 months – the Reds’ move to Warrior Sports doubles their current income from a kit deal.
Sales of the Liverpool’s replica shirts are believed to reach nearly 900,000 a year, making it the fourth highest selling kit in the world behind United, Barcelona and Real Madrid with the Reds having earned around £12m per annum from Adidas.
With the end of their six-year deal with the German brand drawing near, Liverpool opened the bidding process to find a fresh supplier and though Adidas had wanted to remain in place as the club’s choice, they withdrew from negotiations.
Chief executive Herbert Hainer says Liverpool’s performance on the pitch, playing without European football for the first time in 12 seasons, meant the club’s valuation of themselves was inflated.
But the club have hit back at the timing of the comments and, they say, that Adidas were unable to realise the Reds’ global appeal, regardless of qualification for European competition or not.
“The gap between their performance on the field and what the number should be is not in balance,” said Herbert Hainer, Adidas’ chief executive officer.
“Then we said, ‘OK we will not do it’. That’s the end of the story.
“It all depends on the success and the effort and the popularity, the exposure on TV, revenue you can generate by merchandising.
“This all has to be brought in line between what you offer and what you get. We thought that what Liverpool were asking and what they were delivering was not in the right balance.”
Liverpool FC managing director Ian Ayre, told the ECHO: “We are disappointed that Adidas seem to point to a lack of European football as reason not to agree a new deal and cannot see that we are on par with the biggest football brands in the world.”
There was belief inside the corridors of Anfield that the two would continue to have a healthy working relationship until the end of the season and there was no reason, Liverpool say, for that to change.
Their partnership started in the 1985-86 season and, after a 10-year deal with Reebok, was revived in 2006.
The Reds believe they ran a fair bidding process for the right to be the club’s kit supplier with the battle for the contract hard fought.
Interest from every major sports brand was forthcoming but Liverpool were impressed by Warrior Sports’ enthusiasm and that the club will be their only focus in football.
Created by Dave Morrow, Warrior Sports became a subsidiary of New Balance in February 2004, and specialise in Ice Hockey and Lacrosse clothing and equipment. Based in Warren, Michigan, near the United States border with Canada and neighbouring Detroit, Warrior Sports acquired Brine Sporting Goods in 2007.
Brine is a successful football brand in America, where balls, goalkeeper gloves and shin-guards are said to be amongst their specialities.
Warrior Sports’ parent company New Balance, won the contract to become kit supplier to the Boston Red Sox in April 2011, the baseball team owned Fenway Sports Group – the same people now in charge at Anfield.
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