Nike Upset by Uniqlo at Wimbledon losing Roger Federer as brand Ambassador
On the first day of official tournament play, the anticipation for the first match of the defending champion Roger Federer is always buzz worthy. As the 8-time champion walked out on the grass wearing Wimbledon whites it was the first time in 10 years his headband was lacking the Nike swish. Reportedly the contract for Roger Federer to leave Nike for Uniqlo will pay over $300 million over a 10 year period. Roger Federer says that @Nike is transferring the RF logo back to Roger Federer in the near future and they are working on preparing to release it with Uniqlo !! Federer says there are no shoe deal but he will keep talking to @Nike and other manufacturers.
Federer is excited about the possibilities for the future. Roger Federer has been with Nike since the beginning of his career and represented the brand for 10 years. Federer has been with Nike since 1994; his most recent 10-year deal reportedly paid him somewhere in the ballpark of $10 million annually. Reportedly Uniqlo is excited about the possibility of having both Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer representing their brand at the 2020 summer Olympics hosted in Japan. It is a huge upset for Nike to lose the most valuable and easily the most marketable tennis player in history. Federer regularly tops the Forbes list of tennis stars in endorsements and sponsorships. He is also clearly the fan favorite in tennis winning the fan favorite ATP award for a record 15 years in a row.
In speaking about the RF Logo, Federer says : ” The RF logo is with Nike at the moment but it will come to me at some point. Rather sooner than later – Nike can be nice and helpful in the process in bringing it over to me. It will come with me at one point: they are my initials. It’s not theirs forever.” In regards to a shoe deal Federer said, “I don’t have a shoe deal. I’m looking forward to see what shoes I will be wearing in the new future. For now I will be wearing Nike. They have shown interest in having a shoe deal. Everything is open, it’s very exciting.”
Sources say the Uniqlo deal could be even more lucrative for Federer, as the deal includes the right for Federer‘s team to sell some patches on his shirt. Nike did not allow him to do so. This is perhaps an indication of how global Uniqlo has become and launches them on the world stage with the greatest global tennis player of all time. Roger Federer is currently ranked No 2 player in the world behind Rafael Nadal and is favored to defend his Wimbledon title and recover the world No 1 ranking.
Here is the official press release tweet from Uniqlo :
UNIQLO is honoured to welcome Roger Federer as our new Global Brand Ambassador!#UniqloRF #Uniqlo #LifeWear #RogerFederer #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/Xn4R4H4GVV
— UNIQLO UK (@UNIQLO_UK) July 2, 2018
