Liverpool to Sign Kit Deal With Warrior

Wait, what? Weird.

Liverpool are going to switch kit suppliers from Adidas to Warrior, an American based company known for its lacrosse gear.

Warrior is a subsidiary of New Balance

The Details of the deal are that Liverpool will sign a £25 million pound deal with Warrior that will start for the 2012-13 season. It is interesting to note that Liverpool have not won a European cup while wearing an Adidas kit, so... maybe this will change our luck!

As a business major, I have to admit that this worries me from a branding and distribution standpoint. Adidas has both strong brand recognition and a worldwide distribution system that helped make Liverpool the fourth highest selling football jersey in the world. I don't know much about Warrior or New Balance, but I think that says a lot about its brand visibility.

I've read comments from Europeans who have never heard of Warrior, so that shows that Warrior doesn't have worldwide brand equity and that they do not sell their product worldwide and don't have the infrastructure to distribute Liverpool jerseys internationally at a low cost.

In the end, I don't think jersey sales have the same impact as £25 million injected directly into the club on a yearly basis, so the benefits outweigh the costs.

Read more about it at the UK's The Daily Mail.