Adidas, the multinational corporation that designs a variety of different sports apparel and sports accessories, has won themselves a deal with the National Hockey League to be the only producer of sweaters for all 30(who knows, there could be more) NHL franchises at the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
Even though both the NHL and Adidas refused to comment on the deal currently, a formal announcement of the deal will be made at some point in mid-September, just a few short weeks before the start of the 2015-16 regular season takes place.
Adidas, who currently owns Reebok, will be taking over with a deal that doubles the fee of Reebok’s $35 million to the NHL, sources told TSN.
With this new deal comes a lot of speculation of change. This could involve the look and revenue of jerseys and their sales. Nothing has been said if it will cut the NHL’s revenue of jersey sales or if the deal that is in place is a rights-fee arrangement. It’s all untold for now, just as much as if the NHL will finally plan to begin advertising on the team uniforms at the beginning of this new deal. League officials have said an estimation of $4 million per team or $120 million annually might be raised if they allow corporate sponsors to advertise on the front and perhaps even the center of jerseys.
As ugly that may seem it does benefit the league but that may not be the only change of look that’ll come to hockey fans’ favorite sweaters. With Adidas putting in as much stock into this as they’ve agreed to, it’s also speculated they could press their trademark look of three stripes on some or all of the uniforms.
Now Adidas does have two years to figure out on which steps they’ll be taking before they start selling the colors and logos of hockey on sweaters but what they do have figured out is advertising. Insert the face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby.
Crosby’s contract with Reebok expires at the end of this month of August, and it’s believed his agents are already in the works of negotiating with Adidas. As well, the supposed future of the NHL, some young kid named Connor McDavid, filmed a commercial earlier this summer to promote the brand of Adidas.
To many, this seems all very surprising as Adidas did mention they were straying away from league partnerships, especially after they announced back in March that they were quitting their partnership with National Basketball Association after 11 years.
What can we expect? A possible jersey design overhaul that could feature three signature stripes and a patch that’ll help boost revenue. Lot’s of Sidney Crosby and other NHL superstars promoting Adidas in various new different advertisements. And the end of the word Reebok on the back of the neck of every NHL hockey player.
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Deal information courtesy of TSN among several reports
