Celtic becomes latest big signing for New Balance

Scottish Premiership champion Celtic has agreed a multi-year kit partnership to become the latest major football club to partner with US sportswear company New Balance.

New Balance will replace Nike as Celtic’s kit partner in what the club said is potentially the biggest kit deal it has ever agreed.

New Balance will supply the team kit, training wear and equipment from the 2015-16 season onwards.

Celtic has a strong connection to New Balance’s home city of Boston and holds a significant fan base in the US city. Under the deal, the club will have access to New Balance’s global network of retail outlets.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell said: “New Balance is one of the world’s leading sportswear manufacturers and will cater for the huge global demand for Celtic kit. Importantly our cultures match well. While New Balance is relatively new to football, its sporting heritage dates back over 100 years and there is huge excitement around the brand and its ambitions globally.”

New Balance took the decision to enter the football market in February and has taken on the portfolio of clubs held by its subsidiary Warrior. These clubs include English Premier League outfits Liverpool and Stoke City, along with Spanish Liga team Sevilla and Portuguese Primeira Liga club FC Porto.

Speaking to SportBusiness International earlier this week, general manager of New Balance Football, Richard Wright, outlined that the company has big plans from its 2015-16 launch as it aims to target Puma’s No.3 position in the football market.

“We hope to be a new force in football and the initial announcement provided a pretty big splash in stating our intentions,” Wright said. “Through our unique proposition, and hopefully what everyone will see as innovative products, we want to challenge for that No.3 spot.

“This obviously won’t happen overnight. We know that football is highly competitive and there is not a category like this, but we think the brand is strong enough and we have a strong enough story to tell through all our assets to really challenge and become a major player. That is our intention. There’s no holding back here.”