Nike has been Liverpool‘s kit supplier since the 2020-21 season, but their association is expected to come to an end soon. According to SportBusiness, Adidas will manufacture the Reds’ kits from 2025.
The report claims the German brand emerged as the winning bidder in a tender process that also had Nike and Puma interested in striking a deal with the Premier League giants.
Adidas, however, seemed to gain the upper hand to produce Liverpool’s uniforms for five seasons, from 2025-26 to 2029-30. If confirmed, this will be the brand’s third stint with the Merseyside outfit, returning to the club after 13 years.
Liverpool have already donned Adidas kits between 1985-1996 and 2006-2012. This time, the German manufacturer is reportedly improving what Nike currently pays the English club.
Nike is understood to hand Liverpool a base fee of £30 million ($37 million /€34.8 million) per year, though that number may end up surpassing £50 million per season thanks to royalty payments on net sales of replica clothing.
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Adidas are expected to fork out even more money, though their deal with Liverpool wouldn’t be as lucrative as their agreement with Manchester United (£90m per season until 2035).
The Reds’ contract with the American brand may have lagged behind the kinds of deals other European giants have landed in the last few years, but it came in an important moment for Liverpool.
Before Nike, the Premier League giants had a partnership with New Balance that saw them make a base of £25 million per year from 2015 to 2020. But before they could move to Nike, they had to win a court case as New Balance sued the club.
That’s part of the past now, and it looks like Nike’s portfolio in the Premier League is being reduced to Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion. Adidas, on the other hand, already have Arsenal, Fulham and Nottingham Forest, with Aston Villa and Newcastle also joining its list of clients in 2024.
