Adidas brings early Christmas for Soca Warriors & TTFF.
By: Shaun Fuentes.
US$13.5 m deal over four years.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation received an early Christmas present, a most lucrative one of that, when it signed an official four-year sponsorship deal with Adidas at the Westin Leipzig Hotel in Germany on Thursday evening.
A couple hours after head coach Leo Beenhakker arrived from Eindhoven on a private jet, special advisor Jack Warner, TTFF President Oliver Camps and General Secretary Richard Groden were signing the agreements on a head table at the Westin alongside Herbert Hainer, Chief Executive Officer of Adidas-Solomon AG World of Sports.
The deal, as clearly boasted of by Warner, in the presence of the Adidas officials, is the most lucrative ever signed by the Football Federation and has come about largely due to the success of the Soca Warriors.
In fact, Warner let it be known that the deal was agreed upon even before T&T secured its 2006 World Cup berth with a 1-0 win over Bahrain last month but was formalized fitting a day before the World Cup draw in Leipzig.
The deal package is inclusive of cash and full gear and equipment, not only for the World Cup team, but for all other national teams and related TTFF related business.
“This is the kind of good fortune that I have dreamt of and labored hard for together with my other colleagues and the players that represent the country,” Warner said at the launch which was also filmed by German TV.
“To have a sponsorship deal that is worth $11.5 million US dollars over four years speaks volumes and it is fantastic in every regard. I know that Adidas also sponsors a few other national teams in the western part of the world but for us to now be in the same league with the likes of Argentina is tremendous at that but hopefully we will not end up in the same group as them,” Warner added with a laugh. Adidas also sponsors Canada, Venezuela and Guatemala from South America and CONCACAF and is widely known for working with the Germans as well.
Hainer immediately responded, “We certainly don’t (want you in same group with Argentina) as well because we obviously intend to see both teams through to the second stage and beyond in next year’s World Cup.”
Warner, delighted with the deal, said he hoped that it would be looked at as an achievement by the TTFF and the “Soca Warriors” but in no way be seen by other corporate bodies as a way of decreasing what he hopes will be further assistance from them towards the national team, particularly following the success of qualification and in light of preparing for the Finals.
He also mentioned that former kit sponsors Finta would be paid off and that Adidas overcame stiff challenges from Puma and Nike for the rights to have their brand associated with the “Soca Warriors”.
“They agreed on this deal even before we qualified and it demonstrates the sort of faith they had in our country and we shall reciprocate this through your company in more ways than you can imagine.
“We shall serve you proudly and we shall wear your uniform with dignity and respect and I want to give you the assurance on behalf of the TTFF and the team that we shall be a winning and an able partner,” added Warner who made special mention of Robin McCammon, Clubs and Federations senior manager for Adidas and also of Global Sports Marketing and TTFF’s Cheryl Abrams for their part in the putting together of the deal.
Adidas boss: We had to do this with T&T.
Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer explained that his country could not have chosen a better country for such a sponsorship deal as he felt the country had achieved a milestone by getting to the World Cup as the smallest country to ever do so.
“First of all this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our country. We are the number one football brand in the world and having the chance to be part of your team’s presence in Germany for the World Cup as well as the other teams that we are associated with was an excellent chance for us to not just raise our profile but also to give to Trinidad and Tobago what it deserves,” Hainer told TTFF Media.
“I do believe that we as a football company needs to have a portfolio which does not just involve European teams but teams like yours from other parts of the world. We agreed on this deal even before the game against Bahrain and we were right all along before you have made it to the World Cup,” Hainer said.
He added that aside from a general team sponsorship, his company will also look into potential personal endorsements for some players on the T&T team.
“We will look at the established players and also the young and upcoming ones to see what opportunities there can be,” said the Adidas boss. Also present at the signing were Gunter Weigl, Director Global for Adidas Football/rugby, Thierry Weil, head of football for Global Sports Marketing/Adidas, Michael Riehl – head of Global Sports and Marketing and Robin McCammon, Clubs and Federations senior manager for Adidas and also of Global Sports. The supplies of the deal began with the playoffs against Bahrain and will spread over to other national teams in due course.
