Should sportswear giants invest in school sports PE Kit?

Last updated: Jan 30th, 2019


Announced today; Nike, arguably the biggest sportswear provider in the world, pulled out of its £303m deal with Manchester United FC. Already several bidders are interested in sponsoring one of the most profitable teams in the world to gain the brand awareness and financial benefits.

My question is whether there are better ways of using sports kit for marketing, whilst creating a world-wide benefit?

Realistically, a full PE kit for school sports these days will set you back around £50, not to mention the brand new boots that the football stars of today are wearing. Seemingly, this gets more and more expensive as schools look to travel abroad, with the fashion of tour tops and tour hoodies seen as another ‘must have’ for parents to pay out for.

But should a school PE kit really cost this much?

What if sportswear giants invested in the youth of today, where sporting aspirations are nurtured and developed? What if, for example, Adidas, instead of reportedly launching a £60m a year kit sponsorship deal invested this money into sponsoring school sports kits?

We do however understand the benefits. The Red Devils sell over 1.4 million replica shirts a year, so on paper this investment makes total sense when you consider an average price per shirt of £40.

However, imagine if every child in the UK played school PE each week in their own Adidas branded kit, toured to foreign countries in their Adidas tour tops and tour hoodies, played against other UK schools in their Adidas school sports kit, and received discounts on the latest Adidas football boots? Not only would it help to promote sports in schools, but perhaps it would enable parents to continue to invest in the youth of today to gain the benefits that school sports has to offer.

Quick fact. If £60m were to be invested into school PE kits, over 1.2m children could be kitted from head to toe in the latest ‘branded’ school sports kit. On average there are 39 school weeks in a term, with 2 hours a week dedicated to PE. That’s 78 hours a year of coverage per student!

Now there’s a marketing campaign.