Roma are ironically playing their best season in years with no technical or main sponsor on its shirts but have found a partner supporting James Pallotta’s internationalization of the brand, and of course hunger for victory. This march Nike and AS Roma have in fact made an announcement declaring they would begin a collaboration starting next season (2014/2015) and that would last a decade, making the Giallorossi richer by 10 million a year.

Rumour has it that also the glorious captain Totti is about to sign a deal with the team’s future sponsor and his former promoter. Deal which should apparently continue way after he stops wearing football boots, making him some sort of everlasting iconic symbol for both his beloved team and the American brand.

But if there’s one serie A side entering the Nike team, there will also be one leaving it. We’re talking about Juventus. The partnership between the Bianconeri and the Oregon based multinational will come to an end after the 2014/2015 season will be completed, the rival Adidas will take over from there on, giving the latest Scudetto-winners 23 million euros a year until 2021. Adidas will also be managing Juve’s licensing and merchandising activities for 6 million a year. The deal between the two also provides additional royalties if certain amounts of merchandise will be sold, surely not a difficult task if the team will continue performing as it is.

On the other hand, the two Milanese will stick to their current sponsors:
Adidas and Milan have renewed their alliance, started back in 1998 and definitely continuing at least until the summer of 2024, making this one of the most enduring partnerships in the sports marketing world. The brand with the three stripes will pay the Rossoneri an approximate 20 milion per season, a 25% increase from their previous arrangement.

Ironically Nike have done exactly the same with Inter; started in 1998 and renewed until 2024. The 200 million deal will therefor last for eleven more years and officially has its main goal in promoting the Inter brand on a worldwide scale through the opening dedicated stores around the globe.

The following two graphs show how the situation currently is... 

...and how it will change in 2015.

We see how Adidas and Nike contribute for a great percentage to our league just by dealing with less than a handful of clubs. 

Macron’s the third big power, investing for 7,5 million in Napoli, 2,8 million in Lazio and of course in their local team Bologna with 1,1 million. 

Napoli is lately showing big hunger in European competitions, in two years the president Aurelio De Laurentis will have to face a decision: renegotiate terms with Macron, or possibly move to a more international oriented brand?


Fiorentina currently and arguably express the best football in the country but pay the price of being a small brand: Joma pays the Viola 2 million a year, but if the Della Valle club keeps the good standards up figures will inevitably go up in the next seasons.

Club	Sponsor	Millions per year (€)
Milan	Adidas	20
Inter	Nike	18,2
Juventus	Nike	16,5
Napoli	Macron	7,5
Roma	Nike	6
Lazio	Macron	2,8
Fiorentina	Joma	2
Sampdoria	Kappa	1,6
Chievo	Givova	1,5
Genoa	Lotto	1,3
Parma	Errea	1,1
Bologna	Macron	1,1
Catania	Givova	1,1
Torino	Kappa	1
Udinese	Hs Football	1
Atalanta	Errea	0,7
Cagliari	Kappa	0,6
Hellas Verona	Nike	0,6
Livorno	Legea	0,4
Sassuolo	Sportika	0,4

 

* figures in million € / year.
** We’ve inserted Roma since Nike payed 6 million just to “book” their brand for the next season.

But how do our teams’ deals compare to the other top clubs around the continent? Not too well unfortunately. Top clubs are currently ahead when it comes to brand management and marketing.
Manchester City as you may know have recently left Umbro for Nike, signing for a fairly short period of time and for the same money Inter gets.

Chelsea has signed their biggest deal to date with a partner and will see Adidas be the official sponsor and sportswear supplier for the next 10 years. The Champions League title defenders, Bayern Munich, will also be wearing the three stripes until 2020 for a figure around 30 million euros, once again underlining how Adidas loves long relationships (we’re talking about an astonishing 50 year marriage!).

One of the few big names that will neither be on the Nike or Adidas side is Arsenal, since Puma have made a massive investment on the London team: a five years deal starting next season will surely please Arsene Wenger, since nearly forty million euros will be transferred to the club each year.

Figures regarding the Clasico contenders Barcelona and Real Madrid have not been officially released as the blancos have renewed with Adidas until 2020 and should currently be holding the number one deal in football given they are both the number one valued team and their shirt is a worldwide best seller. Rumours also place the Merengues on top, with a 35-40 million annual income from Adidas.

Barcelona and Manchester Utd on the other hand should renovate their deal in the following months, and we believe Real Madrid’s throne is seriously at risk.