Liverpool cash in with £60m Adidas shirt deal after ditching Nike

Club previously had a relationship with Adidas in the 1980s and 1990s

Liverpool expect to receive in excess of £60 million per year when their new shirt deal with Adidas kicks in for the start of next season.
Liverpool are ditching current supplier Nike after a five-year-relationship. A significant financial return is anticipated with the new arrangement to ensure Liverpool earn similar figures to their top-four rivals.
Arsenal, who also wear Adidas kits, have been earning around £60 million a year since 2019. Manchester City are paid £65 million a year from Puma, and Chelsea’s deal with Nike is also worth a similar amount.
Placing an exact figure on what Liverpool’s current and new deal is worth is not straightforward because of the incentivised nature of the contract, with payments depending on a club’s participation in the Champions League. Demotion to the Europa League, for example, has the potential to reduce earnings because of the lower-profile competition. Similarly, winning the Champions League and participating in the Fifa World Club Cup can swell the amounts received.
Liverpool had such an arrangement with Nike, which guaranteed at least £30 million per season but included several lucrative commercial tie-ins and potential add-ons.
On top of the standard agreement, Liverpool negotiated a 20 per cent royalty on net sales of club-related products.
Nike also used their portfolio of high-profile global sports stars to promote Liverpool merchandise, most prominently via basketball star LeBron James who is an FSG and minor Liverpool FC shareholder.
That ensured Liverpool estimated earnings close to £60 million a season with Nike, too, when the contract triggers were activated.
However, the club believes the switch to Adidas will be more favourable. They enjoyed a previous relationship with the sports giant from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and also during Rafael Benitez’s reign as manager,
Nike wanted to prolong the existing arrangement, but Liverpool opted to return to Adidas.