Just how much sway does Nike hold over the collective global sports zeitgeist? If we’re to believe a rumor that’s popping up about a summer transfer of Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery to FC Barcelona, the answer is: Everything.
(Coming soon to Barcelona, courtesy Nike.)
Last week, Ribery renewed his exclusive boot (read: shoe) and clothing deal with Nike, pushing his existing contract with the company through 2014. That means that, for the next five years, Ribery is beholden to Nike for a significant amount of his personal revenue, with some of the undisclosed bonus clauses likely reliant on how much personal paraphanalia he can sell.
According to THE SOCCER BLOG, the clauses in that Nike deal would be a lot easier to fulfill if his gear assimilated with the kits (read: uniforms), jackets, etc. sold by his club. Naturally, that’s only possible if he were playing for a team sponsored by Nike — say, Barcelona — rather than a team sponsored by Nike’s biggest rival, Adidas (like, say, Bayern Munchen).
It’s a radical suggestion, and one which, clearly, would be met with absolute horror in America. Sure, American colleges have sponsorship deals with respective shoe companies, but the idea that players will only commit to a “Nike” or “Adidas” team is relatively laughable (with the possible exception of O.J. Mayo’s commitment to USC).
Yet that’s exactly what’s being affirmed in this report, and, if the summer transfer actually goes down, it might be a watershed moment for Nike’s ascent (and the respective ascent of Adidas, to be sure) to the role of “Big Brother” in all sports. If it comes out that Ribery transfers to Barcelona because of Nike, can we retroactively go back and analyze other superstar transfers? How about Theirry Henry from Arsenal to Barcelona? Is it any wonder both of those clubs are Nike stalwarts? What about David Beckham, who left Manchester United (Nike) for Real Madrid (Adidas) after signing an Adidas boot contract? And could the fact that both L.A. Galaxy (all MLS teams are Adidas affiliated) and AC Milan have made his current loan/transfer deal a realistic possibility?
It’s a fascinating point of debate, and one which really needs to be investigated further. If it’s true, it seems hard to argue that teams will be able to buy and sell players on their merit, which will only make the current European hierarchy more intractable … and make both Nike and Adidas more powerful in the process.
11:58 pm on April 2nd, 2009
Smells like you guys are out of your depth here.The money teams make from Nike sponsorships pales in comparison to the money the team will make from their TV deal when we talk about teams like Barcelona or Milan or Man Utd. The teams have enough monetary leverage to resist Nike or Adidas trying to dictate their transfer policy. Bayern Munich is playing in what is essentially a "B" league compared to England, Spain, and Italy so any move for one of their players by a major club from one of those leagues would be very attractive to those players like Ribery. The English, Spanish and Italian giant clubs have much more footballing cache than teams like Bayern Munich and players simply don't turn down the chance to join teams like Barcelona, much like CC going to the Yankees from the less sexy Cleveland Indians.Also, to think that Alex Ferguson would let Nike dictate the sale of Beckham to Real Madrid from Man Utd would be like Nike telling the Tuna to cut or trade a player, it just wouldn't happen. This is not to say that teams wouldn't want their players to sign with their sponsor, but this is where it stops. Good try at being provacative though and I totally wasted my time since no one gives a sh*t about soccer on this site.
12:53 am on April 3rd, 2009
yes i know CC moved from the Brewers but i was in class, so gimme a break
2:55 am on April 3rd, 2009
You have to be joking if you're saying that Bayern Munich doesn't have the "footballing cache" of other European teams? I guess Franz Beckenbauer and back-to-back-to-back European Cup titles mean nothing? I guess you would consider Ajax a "second rate" team to?
And you say we at SbB don't know anything about soccer…
3:53 am on April 3rd, 2009
Actually i think you got wrong celtics. It is reasonably common for players to go to teams who get their kits from the players own boot sponsor.
It maximises the money made by the player themselves, as they will always be able to do promotional stuff for their sponsors.
This makes up a fair chunk of the money that a player will make, you've got to remember that the playing deals are nowhere near what is made in most of the big leagues in the states (in most cases) so the boot and associated deal can be a big driver for someone when deciding on a new club. Beckham has played almost exclusively for addidas clubs. He left united after they became Nike - he had already kind of fell out with the manager, so that was probably the real reason he left, it was just where he went to which was up for a decision.
If i remember rightly, in the pro-leagues in the states the kits/uniforms etc. are all supplied by one company, so there isn't the same kind of competition etc.
Over in Europe there is.
4:31 am on April 3rd, 2009
Ajax has not even won an Eredivisie championship in years. Their best player is Luis Suarez who is nice but could not crack Tottenham's starting 11, Van Basten is a shambles and they have been losing ground to PSV and AZ for years. So Dicky Manfriedi maybe you are writing your response from 1994 because the football world has changed drastically from where your perspective seems to be grounded. Their glory years have passed as Holland is too small of a market to attract major players. German teams are on much the same footing as interest in the German league has been waning for years internationally. The league may be still popular in Germany, but to say it attracts the interest of La Liga or the Premiership is laughable. You're point about Beckenbauer is moot, as it would be close to 30 years since he kicked a ball for that club and those "back to back" Euro Cup are distant memories for top players looking to sign for top clubs, e.g. Barca or Real. Bayern has not seriously challenged for the Champions League nor has had the ability to attract major talent on the level of the Italian, British or Spanish teams for 10 years. Luca Toni was a nice little signing, but he is hardly the calibre of player that teams like Barca or Inter would be looking to sign. Ribery is another example of using a club like Bayern as a stepping stone to bigger clubs like Barcelona. Get your facts straight and don't try act as if teams like Ajax and Bayern are close to the level they were before the Bosman era. The money is not there.As for "mydak" and your claim that sponsorships make more money for players, that is fine and good, but my point was that sponsors are not driving the transfer market for major clubs when TV rights dwarf the amount of money made through kit sponsorships and place the power firmly in the hands of the clubs.
4:39 am on April 3rd, 2009
And I didn't say the ppl at SBB don't know about soccer, I said they don't care, your post though, proved that YOU know nothing about soccer.
4:58 am on April 3rd, 2009
and as a final point to highlight your ineptitude, Bayern did not win back to back titles as you claim, they in fact won 3 titles in a row from 74-76. You must have been thinking of Ajax earlier in that decade, but then, naturally, you'd also be wrong, since they also won the competition 3 times in a row from 71-73.
5:00 am on April 3rd, 2009
and as a final point to highlight your ineptitude, Bayern did not win back to back titles as you claim, they in fact won 3 titles in a row from 74-76. You must have been thinking of Ajax earlier in that decade, but then, naturally, you'd also be wrong, since they also won the competition 3 times in a row from 71-73. Bayern's current team is built on the backs of German players with a spattering of Brazilians like Lucio and Ze Roberto who have been there for years, and cast-offs like Mark van Bommel, so please don't try to insinuate that they have the ability to draw big time talent like Barca or Real. Please go back to your pre-bosman time warp and don't interupt the adults when we are talking footy
7:48 am on April 3rd, 2009
not quite the point i was going for there, as with the Beckham case, a move was probably on the cards for ribery anyway, and whilst Nike will not be forcing the move to happen, if they notice a move is going to happen, then they will use their influence to help the guy go to one of "their" clubs. It might be that they restructure his boot deal, and effectively pay a chunk of his wages for barca, or just offer more cash if he does play for them.
It is in his personal interest to make as much from the sponsorhip as possible.