CELTIC ADIDAS DEAL EXTENSION: IS THIS THE BEST WAY FORWARD?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- May 1
- 4 min read
Celtic announced today that, as has long been suspected, we have renewed our kit manufacturer’s deal with Adidas.
If press murmurings are to be believed (and as regular readers know, that’s always a massive caveat) then the deal could be for up to ten years and be worth in excess of 30 million pounds.
This is a good thing for Celtic. We are a global brand, and finally, we are beginning to see that reflected in our commercial partnerships.
However, I do to have to wonder if this the best deal for us, the fans.
Celtic Adidas Deal is Our Biggest Ever, But Who Pays For it?
I’ll declare something of a vested interest at this point. As a football shirt collector, Adidas have always been my favorite kit-maker, since long before they got involved with Celtic.
West Germany 1990, Holland 1988, Soviet Union 1991. These are just some of the iconic Adidas shirts I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up over the years.
However, Celtic aside, I seldom buy new, full-price shirts these days. To be brutally honest, I just don’t think they are worth the money.
It’s a documented and proven fact that football shirts are grotesquely over-priced when you look at the cost of making them. Adidas, Nike, Umbro, they are all equally culpable.
They could comfortably sell these glorified t-shirts for half of what they currently do and still make a massive profit.
Personally, I’ve become quite a big fan of the small Italian kit-maker Ezeta. They have some truly innovative and creative designs, and I’ve never paid more than 40 quid for any of their shirts.
As I’ve said before though, shirt prices haven’t just increased, the frequency of releases has too. Since around 2010, the idea of new home, away and third kits being released every single season has come to be normalized.
Frankly, I think that’s obscene. I’d go so far as to say it is an abuse of the dedication and commitment of football fans.
But then again, I’ll be pre-ordering that new tartan interpretation of the Hoops as soon as it becomes available. So, I am as much a part of the problem as the manufacturers are.
As someone who has dealt with depression throughout much of his adult life, I will freely admit I sometimes have impulse control problems.
I see a new Celtic shirt, and I have to have it. That’s on me, I won’t blame Celtic or Adidas for that.
However, I don’t doubt that this article will be met with the usual “no-one is forcing you to buy it” argument, whenever the ridiculous costs and short shelf life of football kits are discussed.
My counter is “sure, but no-one is forcing Adidas and Celtic to release 4 or 5 new kits every year either."
That is their choice, and it is one motivated by nothing other than greed and opportunism.
Such is the nature of the late-stage capitalist society we live in. I just hope that Celtic are still able to exert some control over the price and frequency of new shirts.
These elements of the deal are never made public, so I can never know for sure. Though I suspect it is Adidas rather than Celtic that are pushing what I consider the excessive commercial exploitation of the fans.
And it is their prerogative to do so. After all they didn’t just hand over 30 million out of the kindness of their hearts. Clearly Adidas see huge profitability in a brand with Celtic’s global reach.
I just hope that both they, and Celtic, can exercise some self-control, and give at least a little consideration to the financial impact each new kit launch has on fans. Particularly, fans with young families.
No-one likes having to tell their children they can’t afford the latest “must-have” thing. However, that is a lesson that even the wealthiest of kids have to learn at some point.
On that note, despite the new home shirt design only appearing in the press yesterday, templates for it have already appeared on numerous Chinese shopping sites, at a fraction of the cost of the official product.
Of course, the quality won’t be the same. But if we can’t rein in the excessive pricing of football shirts, then knock-offs may become the norm for many people.
I've already said, I acknowledge the illegality of such items, but in the current economic climate, I won't judge anyone who chooses to buy them.
Other industries such as video games, music and the movie industry have had to adapt to combat piracy. So far, football seems unwilling or unable to do so.
That needs to change, and I hope Celtic, along with our partners at Adidas can be leaders in finding a solution. We all want to support our club financially, but everyone has their limit.
