Nike will stay by Her Man Juventus

With players seemingly jumping each hour from that sinking ship known as Juventus, it is interesting to see a global athletic apparel manufacturer concerned with nothing but its bottom line staying on board Italy’s Titantic.

“We sponsor and we will continue to sponsor Juventus,” a Nike spokesman said.

From the bad timing department, Nike signed a 12-year sponsorship deal with Juventus back in 2003 when the club was corrupt but no one really knew about it. That deal was worth a cool 12 million euros ($15.36 million) per year.

I haven’t looked at the numbers of every second division team in the world, but I think it is safe to say that Nike’s sponsorship of Juventus this year will be the most lucrative of any club at the level in the world.

Will it be enough to help the once mighty club rise from the ashes?

Hard to say. Ticket sales are dismal, corporate sponsors are fleeing like the plague and the team will start the Serie B season well at the bottom of the table.

In other sporting apparel news, Puma’s earnings are down thanks to its hefty advertising spending during the World Cup, but apparently that isn’t bad news, I think. Every time I read one of these stock market business stories I curl up in a ball, fall asleep and wake up in a pool of drool.

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Category: Serie A