Puma’s City takeover ends period of Nike low-ball

German sportswear brand Puma has finally announced its long-term kit deal with City Football Group, including its flagship club Manchester City. The deal has been an open secret in the industry since last summer.

SportBusiness Sponsorship reported in October that the agreement is worth more than £50m ($66.5m/€58.3m) per season – at least five times the sum paid by Nike under its current deal, from 2013-14 to 2018-19.

Nike’s average annual payment over the last three seasons, which included City’s title-winning season in 2017-18, was about £9.5m, SportBusiness Sponsorship can reveal.

Under the new deal, which starts in July 2019, Puma will kit out the reigning English Premier League champions and City’s clubs in Spain, Uruguay, China and Australia.

As reported by SportBusiness Sponsorship earlier this week, Puma will supply CFG’s new Chinese club acquisition Sichuan Jiuniu. Puma has also confirmed that it will provide kit to Melbourne City, Girona and Club Atlético Torque.

Puma’s deal does not extend to CFG-owned Major League Soccer club New York City, which is bound by Major League Soccer’s central agreement with rival brand adidas.

Bjørn Gulden, chief executive of Puma, said: “Puma’s partnership with City Football Group is the largest deal that we have ever done – both in scope and ambition.

“We are very excited to partner with City Football Group, whose success, ambition and drive for innovation has seen them setting new standards, on and off the field.

“We look forward to building the most innovative partnership in football by redefining the sports partnership model both on and off the pitch. We want to maximise on-field performance as well as football culture, in areas such as music, gaming and fashion to connect and inspire the fanbase of each team.”

Puma’s deal with Manchester City coincides with the expiry next season of its five-year deal with Arsenal, where it has been paying around £30m per year as kit suppler from 2014-15.

Watch this: Puma’s promotional video for Football City Group deal