KOP News # 1401

Warrior: What you need to know about the deal

SeanDeBurca July 5, 2012 8

Warrior: Modern tradition

In April 2011, speculation flowed across the internet that Liverpool had ditched the iconic Adidas brand for a relatively unknown brand in Europe called Warrior Sport. Many at the beginning were sceptical of the imminent deal, but once the finer details came into the public domain it began to make sense to the millions of onlookers.

The roots of the brand began to grow in 1992 when a former lacrosse player, David Morrow, founded the company. Twelve years later it was acquired by New Balance Inc. as they set about expanding the brand into other American sports. Warrior went on to sponsor lacrosse teams such as the Denver Outlaws, the Ohio Machine and the Hamilton Nationals (I know, bear with me).

Since the official announcement in January 2012, more information about the deal and it's origins have been released. Once Liverpool's talks with Adidas broke down, many companies expressed solid interest in sponsoring the team. With Warrior already being involved with the Boston Red Sox, it was natural  for Warrior to express an interest in Liverpool. Timing was key, with Warrior becoming one of the biggest sports brands in America thanks to its exploits in the hockey and lacrosse industry. David Morrow felt it was time for the brand to move into new territory, he stated that "there was no way for us to go global unless we moved into the soccer space".

When the £25million a year deal became known, many fans looked on with happy faces as it over took Manchester United's £23.3 million deal with Nike. During this acquisition, Liverpool gained the highest shirt sponsorship deal in England. It eclipsed the previous  deal with Adidas by some £12.2million per annum. It all started to make sense that  in order for the club to compete on and off the field without Champions League football, shrewd moves would have to be made by the clubs hierarchy-  this is one of them.

"Breaking barriers" was the term described when the deal had been concluded. Since then Warrior have stated their ambition of sponsoring some of the top tier teams across Europe. Sevilla FC are the latest team to come on board with the brand, but for the moment Liverpool Football Club are enjoying their sole attention. In a process that should take 18 months to complete, Warrior Sport and it's team had 120 days to create 320 unique styles for Liverpool. One would think it was a mad rush, but the end product would leave most fans happy.

The whole theme of the kits is "modern tradition". The emblem that all fans had come to know was ditched for the Liverbird of the 70s and 80s. Controversy surrounded this,however, as the two flames each side of the crest to commemorate the 96 who died at Hillsborough where demoted to the back of the kit. Each of our three new kits draw inspiration from a different part of the clubs history; and overall feedback, especially for the home kit ,has been extremely positive as pre-order sales broke new records. We hope that this isn't the last record to be broke as Liverpool gears itself up to be the most successful, lucrative, and attractive team on and off the pitch.