FROM SUNDAY LEAGUE, GAA Féile and Tag Rugby to the feet of elite athletes in a range of field sports, football boots are big business to the world’s leading sports brands.
Sports footwear makes up over 26% of the global footwear market and with the commercialisation of sports and athletes, who and what they wear on their talented feet takes up a sizeable chunk of the balance sheet.
The combined global football revenues of Nike and adidas were over $5 billion in 2014 alone. In comparison to the total revenue of $3.3 billion boasted by new entrants to the football market, New Balance, it’s no surprise that the rise and rise has led to both the product innovation and differentiation now available to sports consumers.
Brands like Under Armour are also joining the trend. Their rise to prominence in the US market and entry to the football boot market is unique in that they are both the big name and the upstart, commercially speaking. While Nike and adidas grew from sports footwear supplier to global sports apparel brands, Under Armour took their first steps in the opposite direction and their English Premier League sponsorships and ambassadors will go a long way to cementing their arrival as one of the ‘Top 3’.
Perhaps what is most surprising is the length of time this has been recognised and utilised by sports brands and sports marketers around the world. With the history of sports endorsements classically traced back to Roman Gladiators, there are a couple of more recent examples that really highlight the development of this industry in world football in particular.
Puma is King
Famously formed in the Dassler family feud, Puma used high-profile player endorsements and distinct boot designs to place a firm stamp on most people’s memories of many of the glory years of football. With Pele, Eusebio, Cryuff and Maradona delighting at World Cups from the early 60s onwards, Puma has always pushed the boundaries of activation in order to push its product.
Reports suggest that Pelé tied his Puma King laces at kick-off of the 1970 World Cup as part of his deal with the brand, and Johan Cruyff’s personal endorsement with Puma was such that while both Holland and Germany took to the field in adidas gear for the 1974 World Cup Final, his famous two-stripe kit was supplied by Puma to satisfy the superstar’s unwillingness to support his sponsor’s rival’s trademark.
adidas Vs Nike
While this still largely remains the battle for the top players in the world, their sports marketing campaigns and product innovations were perhaps no more engaging than in the 00s. Nike celebrated flair with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Figo and the famous ‘Olé’ for their Mercurial and Total 90 products, while adidas used a prestige motif with the Predator Mania and the perceived understated class of Zidane, Beckham and Raul.
It was Ying and Yang, night and day, and for kids and amateur players choosing sides and styles, it was a simple choice between two clearly distinguishable brands.
adidas Predator – RIP
The often self-consuming evolution of this industry will be no more felt than on Monday, 25 May. A historic, and for many a dark day in the history of sports apparel as one of the most iconic product lines in global sports, the adidas Predator football boot, is retired forever.
The brain child of former Australian professional footballer Craig Johnston, the history of the adidas Predator is survived by 14 incarnations, each leaving a distinct mark on the world’s game. From Zidane’s performances in the Predator Accelerator in France 98, to our own Damian Duff lighting up the world stage in the Predator Mania in Korea/Japan 2002, the Predator and its ambassadors such as Zidane, Beckham, Gerrard, Ballack and Raul have long defined the skill and talent consumers wanted to replicate.
Indeed the abrupt cutting of the brand’s three distinct football boot lines — Predator, F50 and 11Pro — highlights the consumer trend towards individuality, with less interest in heritage. Professional athletes’ feet have become a conveyor belt that move as quickly as the production lines and players often completely change boot style and colour every month.
Innovate & Paint
The football boot industry, driven in particular by the Portland-bred juggernaut of Nike, has developed from the release of two boot types in one colour, predominantly black, every 2-4 years, to an industry where 14 distinct colours of a single boot may be released in 18 months. Bright is best, unfortunately, and more is more.
This trend is most obviously traced to Nike’s domination of basketball footwear and their $20-million-a-year man, Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James. James has endorsed 12 signature sneakers since 2003, and his 2013 model the ‘LeBron 11’ included 29 colourways across five lifestyle and performance ranges. Is it any wonder his footwear has earned Nike $300 million in sales to date?
So where does the sports footwear and football boot industry go from here? Will it be defined by the ‘race to the bottom’ narrative of brand-jumping designers, rising prices and ambassador deal increases, or is it the epitome of sportswear innovation and performance?
Six of one, half a dozen of the other, perhaps, but the fact remains that we, as consumers, will buy and buy, and the leading global sports brands will feed this global, multi-billion euro cycle.
Colm Woods is a sports marketing enthusiast and Account Executive at PSG Sponsorship, Ireland’s leading specialist Sports Sponsorship Strategy & Activation agency. Follow him on Twitter on @colliewoods for more of the same.