New Balance is breaking into the soccer category with a global roster of club sponsorships, including Liverpool FC, Stoke City FC, FC Porto and Sevilla FC. The Boston-based athletic company will kit out the teams, which previously worked with New Balance-owned Warrior, for the 2015-2016 soccer season.
New Balance football general manager Richard Wright said, “We believe this global portfolio of clubs is an incredibly strong line-up for New Balance’s entry into the football market. We have four clubs all with distinctive, exciting identities and which will play a key role in taking New Balance Football to a truly global audience. This is an exciting, unprecedented start and we look forward to working with these clubs for many years to come.”
The multi-year deals will see New Balance merge its unique approach to kit design and development with the input of players. Team product will be sold through New Balance retail stores globally and will help drive New Balance’s growth and entry into the football market.
To complement its globally recognised roster of teams, New Balance Football will also work alongside a number of local teams, including Shamrock Rovers, Odds BK, Sagan Tosu, Yamagata, Club Sport Emelec, O’Higgins FC and Persebaya Surabaya to help expose the brand to a broader audience.