Nike extends kit sponsorship of France national football team in record deal

The French Football Federation (FFF) has announced on Thursday that Nike will be its official national team kit supplier for the 2018-2026 period, after renewing the contract first signed in 2011.

The 2011-2018 contract is worth €42.6 million per year for FFF. French sport daily L'Equipe indicated that the 2018-2026 deal will be worth €50 million per year, the same record amount the German football federation receives from Adidas.

"Nike will continue to outfit the [French] national teams and, for the first time, the renewed agreement will also cover amateur football," said FFF.

Noël Le Graët, the FFF's President, expressed his satisfaction at the deal’s extension, a mark of the close relationship between Nike and French football at all levels, and a recognition of the French football movements' worth. "Nike is proud of the renewed partnership with the French football federation," said Nike President Trevor Edwards.

The US sporting giant replaced Adidas in 2011, which had supplied the French national football team’s kit from 1972 to 2010. The €42.6 million per year-deal for 2011-2018 set a world record, which was beaten last June by the German football federation, as it extended its partnership with Adidas until 2022. And now both France, European championship runners-up, and world champions Germany will earn the same huge figure from their kit suppliers.

Nike also outfits the national teams of Portugal, the reigning European champions, England, Brazil, Holland and the USA, as well as prestigious league clubs such as FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City. At the end of October, FC Barcelona announced the terms of a new contract with Nike worth at least €150 million per season for ten years from 2018-19, a world record amount for league clubs.