Before 2000, NFL's brand sponsorship was a kaleidoscope. Many sports brands joined forces to divide all the 32 teams, just like dividing the cake. Such a business model was very unfavorable to the league. Team uniforms Important aspects such as design, advertising innovation and quality supervision cannot be unified.
After careful consideration, the league decided to unify the sponsors. They called thirty-two teams to vote. Like all bids, the final sponsor was selected by public opinion. At that time, Reebok, which was in full swing, won all the team owners. With thirty votes of support, we successfully won the exclusive sponsorship rights.
However, the league must still take into account the status of other competitors. The previous business model cannot be completely abolished across the board. Many brand sponsorship contracts have not yet expired, and the end periods vary, making it difficult to replace them in a short period of time. To unite within the country, the alliance made concessions.
Reebok signed a ten-year exclusive sponsorship contract, which includes jerseys and helmets, but gloves, shoes and other parts still allow other sponsor brands to appear.
In 2005, Reebok was acquired by Adidas, and then the brand began to gradually decline; in 2006, Under Armor and Nike gradually began to increase their market share and joined the league's official sponsors. Of course, the jerseys and helmets still belong to Reebok. Step by step. But this is the first time Reebok has begun to decline.
After that, the shrinking of market share and the decline of brand influence caused Reebok to gradually lose its main market. When the contract expired in 2010, they failed to renew the contract with the NFL and announced that they would shift from the professional sports field to The sports and fitness market has completely changed the brand operation and development policy.
As a result, NFL officials began to look for new sponsors. To this end, Nike, Under Armor, Puma and Adidas launched a fierce competition with a bayonet, but they were never able to quickly determine the winner. Instead, they fell into a tug-of-war. Although the league's official jerseys temporarily used Nike products in 2010 and 2011, Nike was still unable to win long-term sponsorship rights.
It wasn't until 2012, the offseason that just ended, that Nike finally defeated Adidas and Puma, successfully won, and signed an eight-year cooperation agreement with the league, officially confirming the league's exclusive position on the court. It also goes one step further and has sponsorship rights for all external equipment such as jerseys, helmets and gloves.
The only thing missing is the sneakers.
But in order to control the market, Nike is trying to squeeze other brands out of the sneaker sponsorship market bit by bit. The goal is to become the sole sponsor of the NFL in five or eight years.
For other competing brands, they must do their best to retain the sneaker market, strive for top endorsement contracts with big-name players as much as possible, and use sneakers as a base to enter the field of other auxiliary equipment, such as Under Armor's sweat-absorbent underwear , such as Puma's shoulder pads, etc., expanding their influence step by step.
Because if Nike acquires all the top players in the league, there will be very little market left for other brands, and the living space will become smaller and smaller. After gradually losing hope, they may give up. , and eventually became the dominant brand of Nike.
For the thirty-two teams and all players, they still hope and encourage the existence of competition. Only by forming a fair and positive virtuous cycle, and under the influence of the market economy, can their income continue to increase; once Nike forms With one hand covering the sky and absolute dominance, the room for increase in the subsequent sponsorship contract is really limited, and it may even be Nike's word.
The league is also aware of this, so it still retains some sponsorship space for sneakers and sweat-absorbent underwear, etc., and has not completely packaged them out. This is one of the reasons for the chaos of the past two years.
Now, the game between brands has begun.
As Lech said, after two consecutive seasons of top-level performance that can be recorded in history, Lu Ke has now become the most commercially valuable player in the league, and even Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are temporarily inferior. One chip - because the current North American market for rugby is relatively saturated, but the Chinese market has just opened up. This is Lu Ke's unique advantage.
In the past year, Under Armor's rugby equipment market share has increased by a full six percentage points, ranking first among all sports brands. It can almost be said that it has soared rapidly on a rocket; now they have become the second largest As the third largest rugby equipment brand behind Nike and Puma, Adidas is temporarily lagging behind.
In the past two months, Rolex's social media influence in the North American market has expanded by a full 200%, although this is not a direct impact on market share - after all, as a traditional top watch brand, Rolex's market has now It is relatively stable and it is difficult to have a huge explosion in a short period of time; but the brand influence has been further penetrated and improved.
In everything, we can directly feel the influence of Lu Ke. This young quarterback has changed the game of football far beyond imagination, and there is endless potential waiting to be tapped. No one can forget it. Lu Ke’s hometown is still the most populous market in the world.
In Lech's view, the actions of Adidas and Puma are expected, and Under Armor's follow-up actions are also natural. Now it depends on how Nike will choose.
Regardless of whether Lu Ke can reach the Super Bowl this season, a complete victory record in the regular season is enough, and Leh can now sit firmly on Diaoyutai.
In just a few words, it was naturally impossible for Laihe to analyze the entire market structure clearly, but Lu Ke still grasped the key points keenly, "You mean, because of the frequent actions of competitors, Under Armor is now In order to complete the contract extension with me, they are also starting to make some moves?"
Lech nodded and replied in the affirmative, "In fact, Under Armor has always been very proactive, and I have always maintained a good relationship with them. Regarding today's specific plan, they have also asked me for my opinion, and We have formulated a corresponding marketing plan, but the regular season is in progress, so I didn’t tell you,”
Lu Ke nodded slightly to express his understanding, but did not ask further.
Such a reaction was also expected by Laihe. Lu Ke has never cared much about off-field matters, which is why Laihe never mentioned it specifically. Even if he told Lu Ke, he would just ignore it and ignore it at all. He would care, but the answer must be revealed today, so he continued, "Under Armor is preparing to create a series tailored for you."
"Oh." Lu Ke suddenly understood and gently nodded his head to express his understanding.
Laihe didn't say anything more. It seemed that Lu Ke's reaction was completely normal; Vincent, who was sitting in the driver's seat, couldn't hold it in anymore. "Hey, guys, how about a little energy?" ? Under Armor is preparing to create a series tailored for Bambi, just like basketball shoes, Jordan series, Kobe series, this is the treatment of top superstars. As far as I know, there is no Brady series or Manning series now. This means, Bambi, you are the first rugby player in history to have your own line of boots!”
Just repeating it again made Vincent feel hot again.
Although Lu Ke was making history every step he took after entering the league, when the historical moment actually arrived, Vincent still found it incredible.
Then, Vincent saw Lu Ke slightly adjust his sitting posture. Just when he thought Lu Ke was about to get excited too——
"Yes, why make a football series? It doesn't make sense." Lu Ke said.
Vincent almost fell directly under the steering wheel. This circuit in his head... isn't it normal?
Rugby shoes are professional shoes and can only be used in rugby matches. In fact, both Nike and Puma have specially customized sneakers for players, which are designed according to the players' own characteristics. However, these are just tailor-made shoes, not a specialized series of sneakers. The main reason is that the sneakers cannot be used in daily life. In life, there is no Brady series or Manning series, not because they are not qualified, but because they are not necessary.
Basketball shoes are another story.
Lech expressed his agreement seriously, "I think so too. But Under Armor still has its own calculations and plans. They revealed a little bit of information to me, but the specific content is still confidential and is waiting to be announced together today. . I think maybe they just want to make more money within the contract period."
This is obviously a joke. The main reason is that Under Armor is expressing its strong support for Lu Ke and hopes to complete the contract extension, rather than just to make a fortune.
"Then let's wait and see." Lu Ke shrugged lightly, and only then did he really show some expectation.
Vincent sat in the driver's seat and kept looking at Lu Ke and Laihe in the rearview mirror. He stopped talking several times, but in the end he was helplessly defeated - this was really unfulfilling!
…
When he arrived at the studio, Vincent was still looking for a parking space. Two staff members appeared at the entrance of the studio, standing there waiting quietly. After Lu Ke got off the car, they took the initiative to greet him with a smile on his face. He said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Sean Carlo."
"Of course I remember you, Sean." Lu Ke smiled and held the other person's right hand, joking easily, "Why do you need to introduce yourself again? Is it because... you were demoted because of my relationship? ?”
As expected, Sean laughed happily, "No, no, no, of course not. I just learned about your visit again and thought it would be great if I could express my greetings in person, so I came over to join in the fun. No. It's my honor to think that you still remember me."
