New Balance, New Approach
Richard Wright, New Balance Football’s general manager, spoke to Rob Ridley about plans to take the number three position in football apparel. To do so, it is taking a somewhat different approach to rivals adidas, Nike and Puma.
In February, New Balance formed a dedicated football division and instantly captured the attention by taking on the portfolio of clubs and players held by its subsidiary, Warrior.
Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1906, New Balance has built a strong reputation in the running and lifestyle sectors. Sales have risen 17 per cent annually since 2010, hitting $2.73 billion in 2013. With this figure expected to have reached $3.3 billion for 2014, Wright says the move into the world’s most popular sport is a natural progression for the brand.
“New Balance has to be one of the fastest growing sports brands in the world – albeit from a relatively low base when you compare it to adidas and Nike,” he told SportBusiness International. “If you want global stature, size and recognition there’s no choice – you have to be in football – and it’s no surprise that New Balance has those aspirations.”
New Balance will have the fortune of hitting the ground running from 2015/16, with all of Warrior’s clubs moving across to the parent company under new contracts. These clubs include Spanish Liga’s Sevilla, Portuguese Primeira Liga’s FC Porto and Stoke City. However, it is Stoke’s English Premier League counterpart Liverpool that is the jewel in the crown.
In addition to a portfolio of leading football clubs, Wright believes the launch strategy behind New Balance Football will give it the edge when products are officially unveiled.
“When you see a new Mercurial, T90 or Predator [boot] come out, the night they’re worn, you see them in the shops the next day,” he says. “As our introduction to football, for the past six months the players have been wearing our boots, testing them and prototyping them. So we have a tease period of six to nine months, whereas normally this is six to nine hours.
“We’re doing things very differently to how everyone else is at the moment in order to make sure we’re absolutely spot on when we launch for the new season.”
New Balance first delved into football in 1984 when, after two years of design collaboration, England captain Bryan Robson wore the company’s first-ever football boot. Technology has moved on somewhat in the three decades since, and New Balance Football’s English base will be tapping into the expertise at the firm’s Boston headquarters to deliver the next generation of football gear.
“You’ll see a complete collection of football products from the beginning of next season,” says Wright. “To become a true football brand you can’t just do apparel, there has to be boots, balls, shin guards, goalkeeper gloves and football bags.
“New Balance’s history is based on new technology, in the sport of running in particular. We’re adopting the same culture and although we’re based in Warrington [north England], we have complete access to the research and development team in the States.”
The full-depth version is available in the April issue of SportBusiness magazine
