Adidas will take over from Reebox, which is a sister company to Adidas; It’s believed that Reebox was paying 35 million a season Adidas deal reportedly would double that figure.
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“If you’re already deciding on a major NHL jersey overhaul”, a league source told TSN, “maybe with Adidas striping on the jerseys, then it seems like it would be a good time to introduce the ads, if you plan to do it anyway”.
You’re going to hear an very bad lot of this everytime the subject of jersey advertisements is mentioned, and it’s understandable as to why fans and players are so opposed to the idea. League officials have estimated that jersey ads could bring in as much as $120 million per year, or $4 million per team.
“The National Hockey League might not want big changes like that, but for the money Adidas will pay, they’ll be pretty aggressive pushing to make the National Hockey League jerseys identifiable with their brand”, the source said. Adidas has increased its marketing budget by more than 25 per cent, , and the company has put a new emphasis on the U.S., the world’s top sportswear market. Many leagues overseas are already huge proponents of jersey ads as a way to generate additional revenue, so it’s somewhat expected to see it coming to North American hockey – although not many are too thrilled about it. Especially for established teams that don’t like a whole lot of change.
In the future, it will all just be a little more upfront. Smaller market teams and the planned expansion to Las Vegas may be in for a real treat as Adidas re-imagines them, especially teams that have been dying to get away from the reviled RBK-EDGE look.
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So…More of the same, really.
