Exclusive: Adidas to Release Sponsorless Version of 23-24 Third Kits
Adidas will release a first in the brand's history for the 2023-2024 season. While Adidas' 23-24 third shirts will feature main sponsors on the pitch, an alternative version will be sold to fans free of logos.
Adidas 23-24 Third Shirts to Be Sold Without Sponsor Logos
Next season, Adidas will release alternative, sponsor free third shirts for their elite clubs. The sponsors will still be worn by the players in matches, but will be absent from the jerseys made available to the public. We first heard about this initiative with the news of their "Lifestyler" 23-24 third kit for Arsenal, and we now know that their other elite clubs will receive the same treatment.
Adidas will still release regular versions of the 23-24 third kits
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United are Real Madrid are the teams in Adidas' stable of elite clubs - each of them will receive a Lifestyler third shirt. Adidas' motivation for the move is for the shirts to be perceived as stylish items that fit more into the fashion category rather than sport.
Some existing items some Adidas' Lifestyler ranges for the teams they sponsor.
The mixing of football and fashion has been steadily increasing for years now, with collaborations between fashion brands, sportswear manufacturers, and football clubs becoming more frequent and regularly generating a lot of hype. The football aesthetic has also been creeping into fashion brands regular catalogs too, with brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, and Dolce & Gabbana lifting inspiration directly from kits.
Nottingham Forest are currently without a sponsor, meaning their fans only have a logo-free shirt available to them.
Ugly and irrelevant sponsor logos are an obstacle to the adoption of football shirts by non-fans as everyday wear, but because of sponsor contracts with clubs, they must be included on jerseys, regardless of manufacturers' preferences. With this in mind, it makes sense for Adidas to remove them from the equation, allowing them to offer something that is 100% their creation with no third-party logos and also represents the identity of the club in question.
We likely see more innovations that just sponsors removed
Boca Juniors finished the season without a sponsor on their kits because the deal with Qatar Airways expired in June.
As the lifestyler kits will not be worn on the pitch, we expect to see some other variations from the match shirts, as they will not be bound by UEFA kit regulations. Oversized fits, different fabrics and possibly additional visual design elements could be present, but this is speculation for now.
Do you think this is a good idea from Adidas? Will it be effective in increasing the appeal of football shirts to an audience outside of football fans? Let us know in the comments.
