Jose Mourinho’s appointment as Tottenham head coach created an interesting dynamic
in the commercial world, with many assuming it would bring an end to one of football’s
most notable endorsement deals.
Mourinho is among the key clients for sportswear giants Adidas, with a relationship which has
now lasted 15 years and which, sources suggest, earns him around €250,000 per season, even
if he is out of work.
Most managers who sign a personal sportswear sponsorship do so with the same manufacturer
that supplies the club they are employed by and the two contracts will be closely linked.
A recent example includes Puma’s partnerships with Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.
Puma became City’s sponsor ahead of the 2019-20 season, agreeing a 10-year deal worth
a reported £650m. In late July 2019, Guardiola and Puma announced their own separate agreement,
with Guardiola wearing the sportswear giant’s product on and off the pitch and also, according
to details released at the time, “lending his technical expertise and knowledge to Puma
Football, supporting the development of future apparel and footwear innovations.”
New Balance have had their own, separate agreements with Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp. When the
Liverpool tie-up finishes next summer, though, Klopp’s will too, and when they switch to
Nike there’s every chance Klopp will follow.
“It is not just for the value of the manager wearing the same brand as the club,” one
industry expert tells The Athletic, “but also because it ‘greases the wheels’ when
they need to ask the manager for permission to engage in promotional activities with the
players and the club overall.”
Since leaving Inter Milan in 2010, Mourinho has only coached clubs whose kit was supplied
by Adidas at the time — Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United — so there has never
been a clash. Joining Tottenham means he is now working for an organisation sponsored
by Adidas’s fierce rivals, Nike, and in normal circumstances that would lead to a
severing of the association.
But, according to another industry source, Mourinho is “different to all the other
managers” and therefore it may surprise many to learn that he will be allowed to remain
with Adidas. It is said that the German company view him similarly to the former England captain
David Beckham and the ex-France playmaker Zinedine Zidane, who is now coach at Real
Madrid. Essentially, as being imperative to their brand’s identity.
And Mourinho is an enticing marketing property, evidenced by the range of companies with which
with he’s associated. To date, he has or continues to enjoy relationships with Heineken,
the watch manufacturer Hublot, Jaguar, EA Sports, Lipton Tea and Atlantis Hotels.
Jurgen Klopp’s commercial portfolio is similarly developed. As of November 2019, he is supported
by lucrative contracts with Opel, the car manufacturer, the electronics firm Phillips,
and the satellite provider Sky Deutschland. He also endorses German beer Warsteiner and
has appeared in adverts promoting their non-alcoholic products.
Guardiola, who himself was previously an Adidas client, is another of the game’s mini-industries.
In 2015, while coach of Bayern Munich, he signed a highly lucrative four-year deal to
become a brand ambassador for GoreTex, the clothing manufacturer, in a deal now superseded
by his agreement with Puma.
Mourinho, his great rival, remains a visible and valuable presence even when he’s out
of work. Most recently because of his work for British broadcaster Sky Sports as part
of their Premier League coverage, but also, in the past, with other media outlets. As
part of Russia Today’s Champions League coverage, Mourinho presented a fortnightly
show of his own, having previously worked as a pundit for the broadcaster during World
Cup 2018.
He has a magnetic presence which transcends borders, continents and many of football’s
tribal boundaries. It’s little surprise, then, that Adidas are prepared to treat him
as a special case.
It will mean that Mourinho can continue to wear Adidas apparel away from Tottenham and,
when he is on club duty, he will be free to sport any of their Nike-branded gear or high
fashion, as seen with the Hugo Boss top the 56-year-old had on during the recent victory
at West Ham in his opening game or the suit he wore for his official unveiling.