Nike and Adidas are dominating the kit supplier market in European football, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData, spending over $1bn across 15 top football leagues. GlobalData’s Sport Intelligence Center notes that the market across the top 15 European football leagues is worth just over $1.57bn, with both brands dominating the space and market share.
The company’s latest report, ‘Kit Suppliers 2020-21’, reveals that Nike and adidas have over 38% of the available deals across the sector, with the two sportswear giants making up 75% of total estimated brand spend.
Conrad Wiacek, Head of Sport Analysis at GlobalData, comments: ‘‘Nike are still the market leaders both in terms of deal volume and brand spend, committing 4% more than rivals Adidas across the sector. While Nike’s overall deal count has decreased from last season, with four fewer deals across the leagues than the 2019-20 season, they have signed the highest profile new deal with English Champions Liverpool.
“The Premier League leads the market in terms of the value of kit supplier deals, generating over $558m in revenue across the twenty clubs, with LaLiga next in line thanks to mega deals with rivals Real Madrid (Adidas) and Barcelona (Nike).”
The 20 Premier League clubs for the 2020-21 season command the most in kit supply fees, with 35% of the overall kit value from the 15 leagues analyzed being concentrated in the division. The concentration of value in the Premier League has been created by the strength in depth that is enjoyed by the division with a greater number of the biggest teams affiliated. Indeed, seven of the league’s teams feature in the top 20 most expensive European club soccer kit supply contracts. The smaller and lower ranked teams in the Premier League moreover hold significant commercial pull, helped by the division’s global profile.
The presence of Barcelona and Real Madrid, and their giant kit supplier contracts with Nike and Adidas, respectively, sees LaLiga rank second in terms of value of club kit supply agreements. German Bundesliga clubs meanwhile, despite having two less teams in its league than the French Ligue 1 and Italy’s Serie A, generate the third most in terms of kit supply value. Outside of the dominant national club, which in Germany is Bayern Munich, clubs in the Bundesliga are able to generate more in kit supply agreements than other divisions due to their larger fan bases and attendances.
Wiacek adds: “With the average deal value in the English Premier League coming in at over $27.9m per season, in contrast to just over $18.9m in Spain and $10m in Germany, this highlights the strength of the English top flight as a marketing platform, with the value coming from all teams, as opposed to a handful in Spain and France.”
