Adidas, NHL to split after 23-24 season

[FCMacbeth]

Well, Nike's latest outing at that the uniforms in this year's IIHF World Cup of Hockey proves me that they wouldn't screw up so bad (with exception with the USA and Canada jerseys, whose set is more geared to towards being trendy and unique). But even then, when they design jerseys, it's always trend over tradition. And a lot of hockey fans don't want them.

 

Meanwhile, how much are you willing to be that CCM would offer a lot of money to the NHL and say they want to be the ones to supply all jerseys to all teams?

 

And also, what's with the hate with Fanatics?

 

Anyway, I spoken too much.

[FroBroStudio]

4 hours ago, IceCap said:

Best outcome: CCM

Pretty good outcome: Bauer

Awful outcome: Nike

BURN IT DOWN: Fanatics

To Add to this list:

WTF outcomes: New Era. Still Baffling that they do uni's for the Canadian Football League

Unlikely, yet questionable: Under Armour, New Balance.

Me personally, Really don't want Nike or Fanatics.

[FroBroStudio]

34 minutes ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

Well, Nike's latest outing at that the uniforms in this year's IIHF World Cup of Hockey proves me that they wouldn't screw up so bad (with exception with the USA and Canada jerseys, whose set is more geared to towards being trendy and unique). But even then, when they design jerseys, it's always trend over tradition. And a lot of hockey fans don't want them.

 

Meanwhile, how much are you willing to be that CCM would offer a lot of money to the NHL and say they want to be the ones to supply all jerseys to all teams?

 

And also, what's with the hate with Fanatics?

 

Anyway, I spoken too much.

Fanatics always makes poor quality replica merch. Key words poor quality replica. Accuracy has never been their strong suit over the years. Fanatics is borderline bootleg merch. At least with Adidas and the other mid size to big athletic brands, if you want an authentic jersey and/or replica, you'll get your money's worth (except for major league soccer; that league are a bunch of cheapskates and Adidas cares less about them).

[VDizzle12]

1 hour ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

And also, what's with the hate with Fanatics?

 

Everything they make is horrible quality, ugly generic designs and somehow it's just as expensive as anything made by a big name company. Not to mention they created a monopoly and have complete control over all major sports fan shops. Seems like over 90% of everything on NHL shop website is made by them. 

[CreamSoda]

I can’t see the NHL going with a hockey only company like CCM.  

 

They will want a name the average fan recognizes.   Like Nike….

[FCMacbeth]

10 minutes ago, CreamSoda said:

I can’t see the NHL going with a hockey only company like CCM.  

 

They will want a name the average fan recognizes.   Like Nike….

I don't know much about the popularity of CCM outside of hockey, but with Nike it seems more likely.

 

I also wonder if the NHL is not as popular as the other leagues within the Big 4 sports of America, and going with Nike would boost its recognition by a mile.

[BBTV]

The adidas team has certainly done some great work - the Kraken work in particular was absolutely outstanding - but I can't help but think that the best scenario is that the manufacturer simply manufactures and puts their ad on the sweater, and the teams use either in-house design departments or hire design / branding firms to work out their designs.  I realize that we're in an era where it's beneficial to have a single entity perform all functions, from manufacturing (or managing the manufacturing that's done by someone else), design, etc., and I understand why, but I just think that a more diverse array of designers handling the brands and having some company simply reproduce the designs on the sweaters might be beneficial.

[BJ Sands]

15 minutes ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

I don't know much about the popularity of CCM outside of hockey, but with Nike it seems more likely.

 

I also wonder if the NHL is not as popular as the other leagues within the Big 4 sports of America, and going with Nike would boost its recognition by a mile.

I wonder if getting back on ESPN would make the NHL more attractive to Nike. Gotta think it would, right?

[Mingjai]

If it’s Nike and the jerseys look more or less like what their output in college hockey has been the past years, I can live with that. Each jersey manufacturer has its own quirks, and in recent NCAA hockey, it’s been truncated sleeve stripes. But other than that, the Nike schools in B1G hockey—Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State—generally looked pretty good. Or at least, no worse than the average NHL team. It also shows that if the client wants a traditional look, Nike can do that, too.

 

 

 

[Cujo]

7 hours ago, Krz said:

Nike with the opportunity to control all four leagues

 

[panthers_2012]

It's gonna be Nike. I have a bad feeling they'll get the contact.

[mamiller99]

Give us Warrior/NewBalance or give us death!

 

I actually really dig what Warrior does for the Champions Hockey League other than having to conform to a kinda weird template. Plus their past work in the collegiate level has always looked nice

[TheOatsMustFlow]

If Nike gets the contact thats not necessarily a bad thing. Nike has their own baseball jersey template that’s used all over college ball but MLB jerseys are still the same Majestic manufactured product. And, college football has a multitude of Nike football jersey templates but the NFL by and large uses mostly 1 subdued template for all teams. A Nike NHL agreement could see something very similar.

[pepis21]

One though came to my mind before sleep. If somehow CCM grab contract then we would basically have a return to Rbk Edge with maybe different collar because CCM still manufacturing those designs (and was a manufacturer back in a day).

[TBGKon]

11 hours ago, FroBroStudio said:

To Add to this list:

WTF outcomes: New Era. Still Baffling that they do uni's for the Canadian Football League

Unlikely, yet questionable: Under Armour, New Balance.

Me personally, Really don't want Nike or Fanatics.

New Balance owns Warrior so its not as far of a stretch.

[WSU151]

14 hours ago, FroBroStudio said:

Fanatics always makes poor quality replica merch. Key words poor quality replica. Accuracy has never been their strong suit over the years. Fanatics is borderline bootleg merch. At least with Adidas and the other mid size to big athletic brands, if you want an authentic jersey and/or replica, you'll get your money's worth (except for major league soccer; that league are a bunch of cheapskates and Adidas cares less about them).

 

Fanatics will likely still make the replica jerseys no matter who gets the next contract. Even if it's Nike, replicas will still be made by Fanatics in all likelihood.  (edit: Fanatics is in the middle of a 16-year deal to make replica jerseys)

 

I own a few Fanatics hockey jerseys and material difference aside, they're just as accurate design-wise as the authentics (though I know of two jerseys - out of what, 80+ possible NHL jerseys - that have inaccurate details). 

 

Nike Swingman NBA jerseys are incredibly cheap (thinnest possible twill, not even sewn on). 

[gosioux76]

12 hours ago, Friedrich Stuart Macbeth said:

I don't know much about the popularity of CCM outside of hockey, but with Nike it seems more likely.

 

I also wonder if the NHL is not as popular as the other leagues within the Big 4 sports of America, and going with Nike would boost its recognition by a mile.

 

This is the point. Nailed it.

 

Decisions like this have nothing to do with the design of jerseys or the logos on the chest. It also has nothing to do with jersey sales. It's all about the value of the manufacturers logo, and it's unquestionable that adding the Nike swoosh to a jersey would add value to the NHL brand. You don't have to like the designs personally, or even like Nike, but on the whole, consumers have proven that the Nike logo means something to them and will gravitate toward it. 

 

Nike has spent decades investing billions to associate its brand with the best athletes and influencers, precisely for circumstances like this. If the NHL affiliates itself with Nike, it will be entirely about associating itself with a more powerful premium brand. 

[Glover]

If it is Nike I am nervous what the jersey cost will be for consumers. If an authentic MLB Nike jersey costs  about $450 I don't even want to think about what an authentic NHL Nike jersey would cost. 

[Lights Out]

Thank goodness Adidas' stupid-looking collars will be gone soon.

[mattr1198]

The concerning fact is that Adidas is not pursuing an extension, it's not on the NHL. I think the key reason for them not renewing is Fanatics. Their revenue generated from simply jerseys and hats just isn't enough given the fact Fanatics makes almost all the shirts, (more often bought) replica jerseys, and 80%+ of the merchandise produced and sold. Why the NHL gave fanatics any rights is beyond stupid.