Liverpool are set to take the next step in their collaboration with Nike and basketball icon LeBron James with the release of a special kit.
Ever since Liverpool switched from New Balance to Nike in 2020 following a High Court legal battle with the former that the club won in 2019, plans to maximise the potential of the partnership have been discussed.
One of the key elements of the deal was the leverage that the likes of James, a former Liverpool shareholder and now one per cent stakeholder in Reds owners Fenway Sports Group, could bring to the table. James, still an active player in the NBA and one of its main attractions at 38, is Nike's most high profile client and his place as both a Liverpool fan and FSG investor has seen him put his name to collaborations on trainers and other merchandise.
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According to FootyHeadlines.com, the partnership is set to kick it up a notch with a special kit collaboration between Liverpool, Nike and James. Liverpool sources the ECHO spoke to were unable to confirm the collaboration but the potential for such moves to come to fruition was mooted as a distinct possibility.
A special Liverpool x LeBron James kit would open the Reds up to a new market when it comes to the selling of its merchandise globally, something that is vitally important to the Reds given that they received 20 per cent from the sales of Liverpool/Nike branded merchandise, something that makes their initial £30m per year deal with the US sportswear giant worth more than double, according to some industry experts.
It is unclear whether any kind of kit collaboration with James and Nike would be worn in Liverpool matches or simply a merchandising move.
In late 2021, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner confirmed that the club would be working more closely with James and Nike, a move that would aid their bid to create something of a lifestyle brand, where club merchandise could appeal to Liverpool fans and wider football fans, and even those without any real interest in football, potentially tapping into James' legion of fans in the US.
Speaking to the Boston Globe, Werner said: "We're doing a product line with LeBron and Liverpool. Nike is creating seven or eight products that connect LeBron with soccer.
"I don't know specifics yet, but they're going to create seven or eight products that rival the connection that Michael Jordan has with Nike."
Jordan's brand with Nike, Air Jordan, has been utilised by Paris Saint-Germain in their bid to aid their marketing potential and appeal to a wider consumer base.
James, Nike and Liverpool have ties that were strengthened by investment by FSG, Nike and 11 per cent FSG partners RedBird Capital Partners, into James and fellow FSG stakeholder Maverick Carter's $725m-valued SpringHill Entertainment business in 2021.
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