Vinicius Jr had a big year in 2022.
The World Cup in Qatar didn’t work out how Brazil might have hoped,
but Vinicius still scored the winning goal in a Champions League final and
evolved to become one of the finest and most productive forwards in the game.
But one negative has been the disintegration of his relationship with Nike. Before the World
Cup began, the sponsorship deal between the two parties, which had been due to run until 2028 and
is reportedly worth in the region of £7m annually, had become the subject of court proceedings.
Why? And what happened?
Vinicius wasn’t used in either Nike’s per-tournament television advert,
or in the launch of Brazil’s new Nike kit.
And, as was first reported by Brazilian outlet UOL in early December, the 22-year-old Real
Madrid player has now begun legal proceedings to terminate his agreement with the manufacturer
early. It’s even more significant given that Vinicius has had a relationship
with Nike since he was just 13, when he was a wunderkind talent in Flamengo’s youth ranks.
But, presently, the forward believes that he has not been given due prominence in
Nike’s commercial activities and sees a bigger future with another brand. He also, strangely,
began both the season and the World Cup wearing an older generation of Nike’s Mercurial boots,
rather than the contemporary XV model, which has been described as a symptom of his disenchantment.
Adidas and Puma are both reported to have shown interest if a severance agreement can
be reached over the coming months. Both would have him in a heartbeat.
And it’s an awkward predicament for Nike,
who are the long-standing kit suppliers to the Brazil national team.
In Mbappe, already a World Cup winner in 2018, Nike have the natural poster boy to fill the
void of Ronaldo but the loss of Vinicius would sting. He was supposed to be a Nike athlete for
at least another six years and, importantly, he was one of their major properties on a
Real Madrid team with a long-standing relationship with rival brand ADIDAS.
Those close to Vinicius have suggested the motivations to leave Nike are not
financial. His reasons for calling in the lawyers are instead focused upon
the frustrations of not seeing his profile grown.
At the time, Nike did not respond to requests for comment from The Athletic but,
as seen in their pre-tournament advert, they clearly opted to place others at the top of
their marketing strategies for this World Cup. Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Van Dijk
and De Bruyne were all featured. The Brazilian Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Edgar Davids, meanwhile,
brought a splash of nostalgia to the ad. Nike have used Eric Cantona in the past to the same ends.
“It’s very difficult to get to the top of the tree
in terms of who is featured in the global campaigns,” says Tim Crow,
a sports marketing expert. “You need global appeal if you’re going to be featured as a global
asset. Big performances are what generates coverage and prominence in that business.”
In Europe and in domestic Spanish football, Vinicius has given some very big performances
indeed, but he is not yet considered to have that precious global appeal.
Certainly, his absence from worldwide marketing campaigns isn’t likely to
help him acquire it and the legal process now initiated suggests that he feels undervalued.
Nike have already parted with the most famous face in this Brazil World Cup
squad. Neymar was dropped by the US firm last year after he “refused to cooperate in a good
faith investigation of credible allegations of wrongdoing by an employee.” Those allegations,
dating back to 2016, have always been denied by Neymar, who has said Nike “betrayed” him.
Neymar is now a Puma athlete, one of seven in the current Brazil squad. Adidas, meanwhile,
accounts for nine, including Raphinha, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli. Vinicius is one of
10 Brazil players backed by Nike but not, if legal action is successful, for much longer.
That matters because common logic has always pointed towards Vinicius being
world football’s next big thing. A boy wonder signed by Real Madrid as
a 16-year-old for £38 million in 2017, by the age of 21 he already had two La
Liga titles and a Champions League winners’ medal, and is flourishing again this season.
Vinicius is already considered a star in South America,
bringing in a host of commercial partnerships. EA Sports and Pepsi
are among 10 brands that have used the youngster in their marketing drives.
They see value in a player that has already built up an Instagram following of almost
27 million. Another 16 million can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Those numbers are small fry to Mbappe, who boasts 75 million followers on Instagram, not to mention
fellow Nike athlete Ronaldo, unrivalled on the entire platform with 509 million.
But Nike tied down Vinicius until 2028 for a reason; he was among those considered
most likely to inherit the thrones that have belonged to Messi and Ronaldo for so long.
The the biggest fish out there to be landed by the sportswear giants is Haaland, who has
so far worn Adidas, Nike and Puma boots as a Manchester City player this season,
but Vinicius is sure to be sought after. Perhaps less so than he might have had
Brazil triumphed in Qatar, but he is arguably the youngest outright star at Real Madrid and
the centrepiece of not just that team, but top-level European football as a whole.
An outcome is expected in 2023 and if the deal between him and Nike is terminated,
there will be an almighty scramble between their rival manufacturers.