The piramid of Nike sponsorship Elite, Premium, Standard, 3rd Party, No contract

From the Champions League to Italian Serie C. This is the photograph of the pyramid of sponsorships used by Nike, in which some clubs enjoy a personalized contract and very important figures, while others - of much lower categories - are dressed by Swoosh with standard templates and not customizable. A layered system in which clubs of all professional and geographical affiliations meet, and as Footyheadlines.com explains, the clear separation into five contractual hemispheres starts from the richest relationships (at the top) and goes down to those companies that, instead, they have a contractual relationship with Nike less and less strong. A clarification: National teams have not been included in this ranking.

The fourth level of the pyramid is the 'Third Party', and since then there is no direct contact between the clubs and Nike. The companies receive technical material of the American brand through intermediaries that operate nationally - Nike German, Nike England, etc. In this range the clubs are hundreds and scattered here in every category (FC Augsburg, Hansa Rostock, Bochum, Munich 1860, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Livingston, FC Eindhoven). On the last step of the pyramid - and with the highest number of clubs - there are the 'No Contracts', and there are all the teams that dress Nike but do not have a relationship with the Swoosh: simply, the clubs pay to have the supply of technical material. The kits are standard and customized by the clubs with their own social colors, and among the others there are the Italians Arezzo and Ascoli.