In July 16, 2020, top-flight Italian football club, Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly known as A. S. Roma or Roma prematurely terminated their 10-year deal with American sportswear corporation, Nike. The multi-year deal was signed in 2013 but their commercial partnership came to an end upon the completion of the 2019/20 season.
AS Roma Chief Operating Officer Francesco Calvo said the following in a statement from the club, “The early termination of the commercial agreement will allow AS Roma to explore new opportunities in the equipment and licensing space,”.
The original multi-year deal included a basic fee of €4m per season, which rose to €4.1m from 2019-20 and would have continued to €4.2m from 2020-21 until its conclusion. According to multiple reports, the agreement, including bonuses and signing fees, was estimated to be valued at €5 million a year which is way less compared to the eight-figure sums brought in by their rivals like Juventus, Napoli, Inter Milan, etc.
According to multiple reports, both Roma Chief Executives, Guido Fienga and Calvo were unhappy with the Nike deal and considered other options.
Although Nike won’t provide kits for the club for the 2020/21 season, however, they will be in charge of other things like training products and the likes for only the 2020/21 season. Roma in a statement said, “For the 2020-21 season, Roma and Nike have entered into a new agreement which will see Nike provide the club with all on-pitch, training and casual products for the first team, youth teams and women’s teams”.
After their premature termination with Nike, A. S. Roma are on the verge of signing a new four year deal with US Sportswear brand, New Balance. After they failed to agree a kit extension with Premier League champions Liverpool, they now appear to have moved to the front of the queue.
According to La Stamps journalist, Matteo De Santis, “As Roma are in more advanced talks with New Balance as new technical sponsor, draft agreement for four years. Final approval and green light of Friedkin.” However, financial details are yet to be released.
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The deal is awaiting the final approval from new Roma majority owner, Dan Friedkin, whose US consortium finalised a €591 million (US$697 million) takeover of the club in August.
Stay tuned for more about the possible New Balance-AS Roma deal in the coming weeks.