Mo Farah winning NYC Half Marathon, March 2011,
In a move that surprised many, British Athletics announced that they were partnering with Nike through 2020 for their official sportswear. This came as a shock to many as most thought that the adidas contract was long term.
In fact, Neils de Vos, the CEO of British Athletics, had been negotiating with both adidas and Nike as he seeked a deal that he felt was most appropriate for his federation.
The new kit deal covers all competitions, including the World Championships, with the exception of the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, which are under the jurisdiction of the British Olympics Association. Olympic kit will continue to be supplied, for all British sports federations, by adidas.
Major brands see the federation sponsorships as important ways to guarantee use of their branding. And the battles between adidas, Nike, PUMA and ASICS, the key brands sponsoring federations continue, although the battles in athletics pail to the battles over team kit in European football.
5 September 2013
British Athletics today announced that Nike will become their official sportswear partner in a seven year deal through to the end of 2020.
UK Athletics Chief Executive Niels de Vos, who secured the deal said:
“We are thrilled to announce this new deal with Nike – the scale and length of their commitment is significant and demonstrates their confidence in the future of British Athletics.
“Nike will be a superb marketing partner across British Athletics and they have some very exciting plans to be announced in the near future.”
The deal will see Nike become an official partner of the governing body and of the British Athletics team. It covers all GB & NI teams outside of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – including the 2017 IAAF and IPC World Championships set to be staged in London.
This is the second long term deal announced in the last 6 weeks following on from the July announcement of the BBC broadcasting commitment through to 2020. The partnership commences 01 January 2014.
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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by Larry Eder
