How Arsenal can be Adidas’s answer to Nike’s PSG

The Gunners’ rumored kits for next season leaked on Twitter last week, sending fans into a frenzy with what looks to be another great collection of kits from Adidas since taking over for Arsenal from Puma in 2019 in a deal worth an estimated $391m.

Especially during times of bad form, or bad results, Arsenal have become notorious for releasing new training kits and merchandise to seemingly ‘distract’ from what was being seen on the pitch. However, Adidas could have loftier goals than just appeasing fans when the team wasn’t performing in matches.

Arsenal is already one of the biggest and most recognized brands in world football and Adidas could be doing with Arsenal what their competition, Nike, has done with Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG just opened a team store in New York, marking a huge leap for a club to be selling merchandise far from where the club plays. PSG has been transformed by positioning from the Jordan brand and Nike into a brand that transcends how the team performs in Ligue 1. If Adidas has similar plans for the Gunners, it can only be a positive commodity for the club’s growth and future.

How Arsenal can be Adidas’s answer to Nike’s PSG and continue to grow the club on the global scene and bring in increased revenue

Arsenal has now had major merchandise drops in the past year with 424, Humanrace, Stella McCartney, and even TFL. All scaling up the designer element and streetwear sides of Adidas’s clothing.

This is trending towards Arsenal merchandise being worn by not just Arsenal fans or football fans on the whole, but becoming a global brand that transcends what Bukayo Saka and co are producing on the pitch every week. Not only is it a productive thing to have fresh ways to grow a fanbase, but also to become one of the biggest brands in world football.

We are now seeing two seasons in a row with Arsenal’s away kit featuring just a simple cannon rather than the entire badge. This could very easily be a test run into a club rebrand which is far from uncommon in the Premier League or across Europe these days with the likes of Inter, Juventus, and Manchester City all updating club badges in recent years.

While some updates have been met with scrutiny, the modernization of many of these logos is constructive for keeping the brand fresh while maintaining recognition.

By shifting to the simple cannon, Arsenal can create a recognizable and simple logo that can represent the club well and grow the branding arm of the club into a sleek streetwear line to be enjoyed by Gooners and non-fans alike.

Change is a scary thing in football – the sport has been around for a long time and many fans don’t like things that change how they perceive the game – yet Arsenal and Adidas can do something to make a mark globally that will only help Arsenal with this growth.