Liverpool handed fresh LeBron James Nike deal boost as…

Liverpool handed fresh LeBron James Nike deal boost as FSG plan starts to come together

When Liverpool inked their deal with Nike a major motivating factor was the leverage that LeBron James’ relationship with the US sportswear giant could give them.

James, 38, has had a business relationship with the Reds since 2011, when he reached an agreement with club owners Fenway Sports Group to take a two per cent stake in Liverpool for around £4.7m, with FSG Management getting to look after some of his marketing rights in return.

Like much of what the billionaire basketball icon has done off the court, it has paid dividends with James accreting his two per cent in Liverpool into one per cent of FSG’s whole operation in 2021 at the same time as RedBird Capital took an 11 per cent stake in FSG for $750m. Later that year FSG, RedBird and Nike (where James has a lifetime endorsement deal) all investing in James’ production company, SpringHill.

James, who increased his shareholding in FSG earlier this year, has seen the value of his initial £4.7m investment turn into one worth well in excess of £100m.

James is something of a cultural phenomenon, and achievements as an athlete, where he recently became the all-time leading points scorer in the NBA, has given him a major platform and huge global appeal.

Such appeal is key to Liverpool in markets where they feel they have major room for growth, with America being one such market.

Football is on a significant upward trend in the US, with the World Cup coming down the tracks in 2026, the MLS increasing its prominence and audiences leaning more into the Premier League in such a way that has allowed media rights for England’s top tier to flourish to the tune of around £2bn for the next cycle.

James has major crossover appeal in the US and when the club and the athlete launched the Liverpool x LeBron James collaboration in January it was focused on producing lines of merchandise that would appeal across demographics and aid retail revenues globally, reaching those who might not typically have been Liverpool, or even football fans, but who were interested in a collaboration between three major sporting powerhouses.

One of the lines that emerged as part of the collection was the LeBron 20 basketball shoe, one that he has been wearing since its launch and during play-off games, where he is featuring for the Los Angeles Lakers.

But he has also got his stellar teammates in on the act, with Anthony Davis, another one of the NBA’s most recognisable, and bankable names, wearing the LeBron 20 LFC shoe during the play-off game with the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.

While what choice of footwear an athlete wears on a game night might not seem like something that moves the needle an awful lot, there is a huge connection between fans and athlete apparel when it comes to basketball, it is why basketball players have long commanded some of the biggest deals globally when it comes to footwear, something really pioneered by Michael Jordan’s link-up with Nike in the 1990s. That tale has now been turned into a movie, ‘Air’, starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and funded by Artists Equity, a firm owned in collaboration between Affleck, Damon and RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale.

Having other NBA players, particularly with a profile like Davis’, is a part of the marketing play stateside for Liverpool and Nike, and one that could have a ripple effect when it comes to retail revenue in the US moving forward, increasing Liverpool’s own brand awareness in a country where they very much want to be at the forefront of the ‘soccer’ boom.

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