Liverpool Resolve New Balance Situation, Agree New Nike Kit Date

Liverpool’s record-breaking kit deal with Nike has been pushed back two months to the beginning of August.

It means Jurgen Klopp’s Reds will lift the Premier League title this season in the current New Balance strip , who will continue on until July 31.

Liverpool were slated to begin a new long-term relationship with the biggest sports manufacturers on the planet on June 1 after winning a High Court battle against current suppliers New Balance last year.

After a ruling in London last October, it was decreed that New Balance could not utilise their matching clause for what Nike had offered and Liverpool were free to start a new partnership with the American giants this summer.

However, with the Premier League season yet to be completed because of a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus, Liverpool have agreed to continue in their 2019/20 New Balance shirt when the campaign resumes.

And after amicable discussions between New Balance, Nike and Liverpool, it has been agreed to allow the Boston-based NB to end their association with the Reds on a high, with Klopp’s men nailed on to win the a maiden Premier League crown before the beginning of August.

It means Nike will start their contract with Liverpool on August 1 as a result.
The contract is understood to be worth around £30m-a-year, guaranteed, which is around £15m less than the bottom line earned from New Balance.

However, the Reds feel the agreed add-ons and exposure afforded to them by the global Nike brand will see their eventual income dwarf the fee from current suppliers.

With Arsenal (Adidas, £50m per year), Manchester City (Puma, £50m) and Chelsea (Nike, £60m), all earning more from their own agreements, Liverpool felt their next contract should be more valuable than all of those.

And while the initial figure is considerably lower than their top-six rivals, the Reds believe their long-term partnership with Nike will earn them considerably more than the £45m they pocketed annually from New Balance.