Nike Have Changed Their Football (Boot) Strategy
If you have followed the season and have had an eye on the player's boots, you surely have noticed that most Nike players have been wearing the same boot since the start of the campaign. This is no accident but planned by Nike as part of their new strategy in soccer.
Nike Have Reduced Numbers of Football Boot Colorways & Releases
Just 10 years ago, in the 2011-12, Cristiano Ronaldo and many other players did wear around eight different boots during a season. For CR7, seven of his boots were regular releases, while one was a signature edition.
Nike did release new colorways every month some years ago
In fact, the maximum of football boots was released around 2016. In the second half of 2016, Nike did release nine colorways for the "Hypervenom 2.5" alone - a new paint job every three weeks.
In the 2021-22 season so far, Nike have only released one main boot collection - the Motivation Pack. It has been worn by Nike players since the start of the season.
Haaland and many other Nike players have been wearing the same boots in every match of the 21-22 season so far
For Nike, this means they do not have to send new boots to their players every month. For players, it means that they do not have to break into new shoes every 6 weeks.
Nike are still releasing some special releases but not far as many as in the mid-2010s. The Swoosh also completely ditched the Women's boot colorways that came out up to four times a year.
We expect Nike's second "main pack" to be the "Recharge Collection" that will be released in November 2021. In total, Nike will bring out three or four main collections in the 2021-22 season.
Adidas' strategy is to release around 4 main packs per season as well as special packs that are worn by select star players. Puma's strategy is similar as Adidas'.
We see more kit releases than in the past
Meanwhile, all brands are releasing more football kits and other football gear related items than before. PSG is getting four kits every year (and many other Nike teams 4th kits), Adidas are releasing special-edition kits for all the big teams (Humanrace, Teamgeist) and Puma are doing so as well (BALR, Street Soccer, King).
Nike have "lost" many famous footballers
Nike have also not extended the contacts with many (expensive) players, rounding off their new strategy in football. The latest one seems to be Jorginho.
Good or bad? What do you think of players wearing the same colorway for more than one or two month again? Do you think the trend toward more and more football kits will stop? Comment below, check out more boot stats on Football Boots DB and boot leaks and releases in the Boot Calendar.
