“Neymar getting injured — there’s no way you can replace that,” Laje says. “What you miss is the opportunity for him to generate additional memories and pop culture moments. He’s still there as an ambassador despite not playing. So we continue to use him for communication because the story we tell goes beyond this specific tournament.”
Nike did not respond to queries for this report but sources familiar with the organisation, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, suggested Copa America sponsorship had previously been motivated more by Nike’s equipment business (ie, selling footballs) rather than mass global visibility. Nike already has a large soccer footprint in the Americas through its sponsorship of the U.S. and Brazil, although it did represent a significant economic blow to lose Mexico to Adidas in 2006.
There is, however, a slight awkwardness in that the USMNT’s biggest star Pulisic — and, more recently, his team-mates Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie — are signed to Puma. Missing out on Pulisic, in particular, was a source of angst and frustration in Nike’s soccer department.
More on the world of football boots and kits…
Ultimately, Nike’s decision to step back from the Copa America is most likely a hard-nosed business call. The company announced in late 2023 its intention to axe hundreds of jobs and increase automation as it sought to save $2bn in costs over the following three years. This has seen Nike retrench on sports marketing and sponsorship spending, analysing what the firm could afford to lose, rather than focusing solely on driving the business forward.
Nike, in a trend consistent throughout the industry, has also cut the number of athletes to whom it gives paid endorsement deals. The general strategy of Nike has been to focus on a smaller number of diverse elite athletes and incorporate social justice into campaigns. France and Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe and Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford are examples of clients Nike has placed at the heart of its campaigns, but it also has a lifetime deal with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo wears Nike on national duty with Portugal (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
The curious aspect of the Copa America decision, however, is that it leaves a dwindling base of where we may actually see Nike balls at the highest level of football. Adidas has the World Cup, Champions League, European Championship and Major League Soccer. Puma has the Premier League and La Liga, and recently signed an agreement with the African confederation to produce balls for the Africa Cup of Nations.
At Copa America, Puma’s Cumbre ball is, according to the brand, “inspired by the mountain range that spans across all of America, aiming to elevate the football of the region to new heights”. Its design is based on the shape of the continent, featuring 16 lines that refer to the total number of countries participating in the tournament. Laje says the ball, for which there will be a special gold edition for the final in Miami on July 14, was the eighth iteration of a process of development and testing.
He explains: ‘The ball’s design has to be approved by FIFA and CONMEBOL because it has to convey a stable visual when the ball is both at play and rolling. So if the ball is too asymmetrical, that’s not accepted by FIFA. The design is very strict.”
The ball, which is being used in varying climates across the United States, benefits from technologies developed in Puma’s La Liga balls. Laje adds: “In Spain, you have extreme conditions — hot in the south and cold in the north — so those technologies were already tested in those leagues.”
It has been developed in laboratories and at universities, and then Puma-sponsored clubs and national teams get to “stress test” it.
“It is something players sense that we normal regular people cannot,” says Laje. “So we have these blank balls that we take to the training of our teams. They give us feedback to tweak them here and there. We blend the most objective lab testing plus the most subjective player testing to produce the final version.”
At the 2010 World Cup, Adidas’ Jabulani ball became famous for how it appeared to deceive goalkeepers as it flew through the air. Do brands crave this type of recognition?
Laje smiles: “We tend to favour what players want. And despite what we might imagine — that strikers might favour a more bouncy or unstable ball because it affects the performance of the goalkeepers — players generally like stability. These are top players and they really can handle where the ball goes. And we tend to favour what players need.”
(Top photo: Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5590838/2024/06/26/how-puma-is-taking-on-nike-and-adidas-at-copa-america/
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Publish date : 2024-06-26 06:19:10
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