Roma's contract with Diadora ends June 30 and they've decided not to renew. The problem is they still haven't found another company to sponsor them, and it's a race against time because the company needs ample time to produce the kits for next season. sportseconomy.it is reporting that Legea has made an offer, and Nike and Adidas are entering the race. http://www.sporteconomy.it/default.aspx?task=content_view&id=13348&menuid=61
Damn Cassano, you beat me too it! It made my day to hear that there are other options from Legea. I really want a dignified brand to be making our jerseys. I liked the recent Diadora ones and if we are leaving them it better be worth it. Here is a concept jersey I found on Popolo GialloRosso:
I was surprised to hear a few weeks ago that only Legea was making a bid. I would think a club like Roma would be marketable to big brands like Adidas and Nike.
I only heard about this recently, last weekend maybe. More than anything I'm upset with the society who seems to put things off until the very last minute. First the contract renewals, then the shirt sponsors, now the actual shirts.
I hope its gonna be Nike. They make different model shirts for every team. Its not like Adidas who makes the same models for every team only in different colors.
Ditto on that.... Though I really do like the Diadora jerseys the past few years. Call me crazy, but I actually liked the "bubble" ones very much. I wish Diadora would renew, or we'd go back to Kappa, but I would much prefer Nike over the Adidas ones.
I'm with you guys with Nike being better than Addidas ... I think we can all agree that they are both > than Legea.
I like the new Portugal jersey with the huge stemma, it reminds me of the big stemme on the Kappa shirts; it was nifty being so big. I really hope that they put it on the side - I can't stand it when the stemma is in the center. Some of the old Adidas shirts Roma had were cool. I'm trying to find a picture. Maybe Roma's shirts would look a little like Lens'? http://www.subsidesports.com/uk/sto...e=/uk/images/product/xlarge/RCLensHSS0607.jpg
i would love it if we could go back to kappa the shirts we wore in 2001-2003 were beautiful i would really be happy if nike was the new sponsor though, because their shirts are attractive and they sell a lot of merchandise for all of their teams. ^ best shirt we ever wore
Kappa would be great and Legea would be good if Diadora is not an option. I really don't want Roma wearing Nike shirts.
I was impressed by Nike's new committment to making jerseys specific to the team in the world cup. Its better than a few years before when they did what Adidas seem to be doing now. I'm very disappointed by Adidas lately when it comes to the same jersey for every team. Umbro seem to be falling into that trap too, they put a little more work into it, but you can see the same style through each of their jerseys. I agree with wanting a larger name to sponsor the shirt instead of Legea. It does add more marketability to international fans. Just my two cents.
legea would be a terrible shirt sponsor, i just think that we should have a better sponsor. Plus, nike would probably mean a lot more money for roma because of all the licensed merchandise, and shirt sales.
No, that part is just speculation by the tifoso who designed this shirt, based on the fact that Pepsi sponsored Roma for that one game against Milan a few months ago....
This Adidas shirt remains my all-time favorite. I'd prefer a classic-looking three-stripe Adidas shirt to a Man. Utd.-style Nike shirt. (But I would obviously be overjoyed to have either Adidas or Nike over Legea!)
Bad news!!!!! Sporteconomy.it is reporting that Legea is going to be our new shirt maker. Hope it's not true.
I don't really that as bad news if Legea is the sponsor. They make some nice kits and show some growth potential. I think their kits look much nicer than Nike's.
We need visibility. Try to find a Roma kit right now outside of Italy. It's not easy. Having Nike or Addidas would have put our jerseys in stores, which would be fantastic. Especially since we are going to be getting CL exposure.
http://www.sporteconomy.it/default.aspx?task=content_view&id=13327&menuid=61 yes the site says it's official, and that Legea will be the sponsor for two seasons, with an option to renew for the 2009-2010 season. Legea wants to get more popular on the international stage and they are paying Roma around 13 million euro for these two seasons.
I see your point that if Nike or Addidas made the jersey it might be easier getting it into stores. However, just because they make the jersey does not mean it will sell. By the same token, if the team is popular or the jersey looks cool I don't think people would care who makes it. My small local soccer store carries the Roma kits. If they sell well, I don't think the store cares if they are made by Diadora, Legea, Nike, Addidas, or a grandmother down the street. I actually like the fact that Roma is using a smaller Italian company to make their jerseys. It is supporting local industry and that is commendable. If Roma does well next year, maybe a lot more people will find out about Legea. Remember, Nike was not always a "soccer" company. I have spoken to a couple of Legea representatives in the United States and they are really motivated to make Legea a well known company. This will help that.
If its true (havent seen it yet on the official Roma site or Il Romanista) I'll start to email the Legea supplier for Holland haha. Now to hope they will make some nice shirts. I bet there are gonna be 3 of them, home away and a special one for 80 year AS Roma.
I have to disagree with your post. (1) Diehard fans aside, I think foreigners would be more likely to buy a Roma jersey made by Adidas or Nike than one made by an unknown company like Legea. Brand names matter! (2) Roma jerseys made by Nike or Adidas would sell better than jerseys made by Legea, because Nike and Adidas have well-established distribution networks. (3) I'm all for supporting Italian industry, and I would be in favor of deals with Diadora or Kappa. But Legea is a small, unproven company. It is almost embarrassing for a team as big as Roma to make this kind of deal with a company like Legea just because they think they can squeeze a few more Euros out of the deal. It's also dumb from a marketing and merchandising standpoint. Roma would be one of only two or three Serie A teams wearing Legea next year, and the others are minnows. Here's their current Italian client roster again: Serie A CALCIO CATANIA F.C. MESSINA A.S. LIVORNO CALCIO ASCOLI CALCIO Serie B A.C. AREZZO FROSINONE CALCIO PESCARA CALCIO Serie C1 U.S. AVELLINO A.S. CITTADELLA S.S. LANCIANO A.C. PAVIA PRO-PATRIA CALCIO U.S. FOGGIA TERAMO CALCIO MASSESE CALCIO SALERNITANA CALCIO 1919 A.C. ANCONA SANGIOVANNESE Serie C2 GIUGLIANO CALCIO A.S. MELFI SPAL CALCIO SORRENTO CALCIO BENEVENTO CALCIO PORTOGRUARO-SUMMAGA POTENZA S.C. OLBIA CALCIO ACIREALE Serie D A.C. BELLUNO A.C. FORLI F.C. SAVOIA COSENZA CALCIO F.C. ESPERIA VIAREGGIO A.C. IMOLESE
One more thing. As far as I can tell, the two-year contract with Diadora was for 6.25 million Euro and 1 million Euro's worth of Diadora equipment annually, for a total of 14.5 million Euros. The Legea contract is for two years and a total of 13 million Euros. So, it's not even as if Roma signed the deal with Legea because Legea was offering a lot more money than Roma could get from someone else. I continue to hold out hope that this is another incorrect "scoop" by sporteconomy.it.