English Premier League giants Liverpool FC are reportedly ready to sign a deal that would reunite them with kit manufacturer Adidas after 13 years.
According to both SportBusiness and The Mirror, Liverpool are set to leave Nike when their contract runs out in 2025 and switch back to Adidas as their kit supplier, a company with which they had a deal from 2006 to 2012.
Nike currently pays Liverpool around £30 million per season, which is relatively little for a team of Liverpool’s calibre, though royalties on replica teamwear sales reportedly push that figure past £50 million per season. In comparison, Adidas’s contract with Premier League rivals Manchester United is worth a reported £90 million per season and was just renewed for another 10 years last summer.
Liverpool were reportedly willing to take less from Nike in 2020 because of their marketing and distribution power.
Liverpool recently held a tender process to select a new kit supplier. A source told SportBusiness that another German manufacturer, Puma, was “at the table,” but they are instead focusing on Manchester City, the club with whom Liverpool has been battling at the top of the Premier League in recent years.
SportBusiness also reports that Adidas is making an “aggressive push” to win high-profile soccer contracts after losing out to Nike for the German national team contract earlier this year. The next major contract believed to be up for grabs is that of the French national team, with a tender process launching last month.
After leaving Adidas in 2012, Liverpool kits were supplied by Warrior for three season. The club then switched to New Balance before signing with Nike in 2020. New Balance took Liverpool to court in 2020 saying they should have the right to match Nike’s contract offer, but the judge ruled against them, allowing the Nike deal to go ahead.
Adidas also supplied Liverpool’s kits from 1985 to 1996. In the years between stints with the German manufacturer, Liverpool’s kits were supplied by Reebok.
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