The wait is almost over for Newcastle United fans, as Adidas prepare to launch next season’s home kit.
The Castore era at St James’ Park is over, with the Newcastle United owners brokering a deal with Adidas to allow them to become the club’s new kit provider.
It is a deal that has delighted fans on Tyneside, with some of the Magpies’ most iconic kits coming back when Adidas were calling the shots. They are now back, with the Toon Army seemingly ready to splash the cash on Newcastle’s new strips.
In truth, supporters might actually be strapped for cash very soon, with Newcastle’s new Adidas kit set to cost £80. It is not going to be cheap to don the Magpies’ shirt for next season, although Adidas have made the favourable decision to donate £5 from every shirt sold before the end of August the the Newcastle United Foundation.
Newcastle braced for huge revenue increase thanks to two major kit changes
That is a great initiative, as Newcastle United brace themselves for what could be a transformative partnership between themselves and Adidas. With them replacing Castore and Sela becoming the main shirt sponsor instead of Fun88, Toon officials have taken huge strides towards increasing the club’s revenue.
In fact, the financial increase in the space of a couple of years is ‘unprecedented’ according to TBR Football‘s finance expert Adam Williams, who has spoke to Geordie Boot Boys about Adidas’ return to St James’ Park.
“Newcastle have gone from a kit deal with Castore to a circa £30million partnership with Adidas, and a £6.5million front-of-shirt alliance with Fun88 to a £25million deal with Sela,” he said.
“That’s nearly a 400% increase. I can’t think of a single instance in football when value across those two verticals has increased so quickly, by such a margin. It’s unprecedented. Granted, Newcastle routinely undersold their sponsorship under the previous regime. But the upswing is still impressive.
“The fact that their PIF-arranged deal with sleeve sponsor Noon was, at £7.5million, worth more than their front-of-shirt deal with Fun88 in the transition period between Mike Ashley and PIF is emblematic of how their fortunes have changed.
“Again, I can’t think of a single instance elsewhere in football where a club’s sleeve deal has been at a higher value than their front-of-shirt.”
Newcastle United set for PSR boost thanks to Adidas
Toon officials have been extremely focussed on increasing the club’s revenue, as that is what is required to give Eddie Howe more funds in the transfer market.
The easiest way to do that is by selling players, but cashing in on world class talents like Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak seems counterproductive for a club that wants to be at the top of the game.
That is why football finance expert Adam Williams believes these sponsorship deals are a massive boost for Newcastle with regards to profit and sustainability.
“The deals, approved by the Premier League Fair Market Value Committee, have been pretty transformative in terms of what Newcastle can spend under PSR,” he said.
“It helped that, in PSR terms, they inherited quite a favourable situation from Ashley as the club either broke even or better during most years of his premiership.
“But their comparatively lavish spending under the new owners means they will have to be more restrained over the next few windows. Either that or they sell a big name in order to have more room to manoeuvre this summer. And while they won’t be forced to go down that avenue, it could have been a completely different situation had it not been for the Adidas arrangement.
“It’s worth £90million over the course of the next PSR assessment window. And given PIF’s investment style, that’s effectively £90million extra for Eddie Howe’s playing budget over that three-year period.”
The Adidas deal is great for fans, who can’t wait to see Newcastle United wearing the iconic brand again. It is also brilliant for the owners, who have made a huge difference to the club’s revenue thanks to this arrangement.
Everyone is a winner, including the Toon players who are going to look pretty good donning those famous three stripes from next season onwards.
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