Can Nike lose the French team?

What if the FFF kicked Nike out? Impossible, to date, to be affirmative on such a thorny issue, but given the success and popularity enjoyed by the French team in 2024, we guess that the American firm will have to take out the checkbook to hope to keep it in its customer portfolio. Official clothing of all French football teams since 2011, the comma brand had at the time succeeded its great rival Adidas, a partner of the Blues for almost 40 years. A contract initially valued at €42.5 million per year, renegotiated for €50 million in 2017, and which should therefore be redefined again in the coming weeks.

World champion in 2018 and vice-champion in 2022, the French team today resembles a growing market for its equipment manufacturer, reinforced by the presence of its many stars like Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann or again Eduardo Camavinga, with resounding popularity especially among the youngest. And with such arguments to put forward, 3F will have the firm intention of revising its contract upwards, which will end in 2026. This Friday, it also formalized the launch of its call for tenders for the 2026 period. -2034 (the deadline to make an offer to the FFF is April 29).

Nike absolutely wants to extend its contract with the Blues

Today, and even taking a distanced look from the truth, it is difficult to find trace of a men's selection as popular as the French team internationally. On social networks – which does not constitute a hard science, of course, but which remains a relatively reliable measuring tool – the Blues have more than 40 million followers, when their headliner, Kylian Mbappé, mobilizes them alone more than 110 million on his Instagram account alone. And at a time when the Frenchman is getting closer than ever to his departure for Real Madrid (a club sponsored by rival Adidas), Nike would be well advised to align with the claims of the FFF.

Because in the event that 3F decided to change tack regarding the identity of its dresser, the comma brand would see its field of action and its advertising campaigns considerably restricted with its tricolor star. Today, Nike, sponsor of Kylian Mbappé since the start of his career, has the chance to represent his two teams: PSG and the France team. But under the combined effect of the future arrival of the Bondynois in Madrid, and therefore, a possible change of sponsor of the Blues, this luxury could quickly go up in smoke. A risk that the swoosh brand will absolutely want to avoid, aware that the Parisian, its spearhead, is still called upon to become “the next big thing” at a time when Cristiano Ronaldo has definitively lost his marketing appeal. Moreover, since the departure of CR7 from the European football landscape, Nike has let Portugal go without resistance, which has joined Puma. There is no doubt that the brand with the swoosh will be more motivated than ever when it comes to winning the call for tenders launched by the FFF. More than a need, a necessity.

But the data that could also reshuffle the cards is this new historic contract concluded between Nike and the Mannschaft in recent days, around a record amount estimated at €100 million per year, from 2027 (a colossal three-figure amount previously reserved for major European clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona). Eager to establish itself in the German market, but blocked by competition from Adidas and Puma, sponsors of the two biggest clubs in the country (Bayern Munich and Dortmund), the American firm therefore strategically turned towards the selection quadruple world champion. Which could then encourage the FFF to revise its claims upwards, while its contract, negotiated in 2017 and therefore prior to the prosperous period of the France team, is valued half as much (50.5 million euros) . But according to our information, Nike is now stubbornly keen to maintain its partnerships with the French team, England and Germany, at the cost of its other collaborations with the Netherlands and Brazil, including contracts will expire in 2026, and which could be sacrificed to better refocus on the Blues, the Nationalmannschaft and the Three Lions.

Adidas and Puma, approaching threats?

Official sponsor of the Blues between 1972 and 2011, Adidas could also have a say in this matter. Even more so after losing one of its historic partners – the Nationalmannschaft -, which it represented for 70 years, the brand with the three stripes will be looking for new ambassadors, necessarily with the French team as a potential target. Because beyond the considerable financial stakes, it is also a war of egos that the sportswear giants are waging by sponsoring the best players and the best teams on the planet. But Adidas also knows it: it will be necessary to put its hand in the wallet to appear on the blue jersey, and certainly to raise the stakes, while the DFB (the German football federation) politely rejected its contract proposal of €50 million by year to join Nike.

Another argument which could encourage Adidas to take action: its absence on the French market, at a time when the big clubs in France are represented by its competitors (PSG by Nike and OM by Puma in particular) . In addition to Nike and Adidas, Puma could also try its hand in the file, especially as the German brand continues to gain in attractiveness, and has made big moves in recent seasons (Neymar, Coman and Varane have been signed, as have the clubs of Manchester City and AC Milan, among others). Furthermore, his possible failure in the FC Barcelona file, which could, according to the latest indiscretions, ultimately remain with Nike despite a long period of uncertainty, will encourage him to cast a wide net to find another headliner. In 2016, the brand with the leaping feline had already positioned itself in the FFF call for tenders, just like the Americans Under Armor and New Balance. Everyone is warned: you will have to have strong backs and take out your checkbook to emerge victorious from this battle in which a big winner is already emerging whatever happens: the French Football Federation.

Find the new French team jerseys for Euro 2024 on the Foot.fr store