Warrior Sports reached a sponsorship deal with the English soccer club Liverpool, replacing Adidas. Warrior, owned by New Balance, is said to have paid £25 million a year for the rights, twice what Adidas currently pays.
Reports in the U.K. said the deal is expected to slightly exceed Nike's deal with Manchester United that calls for £23.5m – into the shade. Warrior will take over from Adidas ahead of the 2012-13 season. Liverpool's shirt are the fourth-highest selling replica in the world. The top three are United, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Adidas AG said it declined to renew its apparel deal with 18-time English soccer champion Liverpool because the price was too high.
“The gap between their performance on the field and what the number should be is not in balance,” Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer said in an interview with Bloomberg in Munich. “Then we said, 'Okay we will not do it. That's the end of the story.'”
