After 24 Years, Roger Federer Has Left Nike And Is Now With Uniqlo
ESPN- The 36-year-old great walked out for his opening round match at Wimbledon on Monday morning wearing a headband, jacket, shirt and socks from the Japanese brand Uniqlo. Federer, who had been wearing Nike since 1994, was still wearing Nike shoes.
Sources say the deal is worth more than $300 million guaranteed over 10 years and has an unprecedented clause that says that Federer will collect the money even if he doesn’t play.
To put Federer’s $300 million Uniqlo deal in perspective, his career on-court earnings are $116.6 million.
Sources say the deal could be even more lucrative for Federer, as it includes the right for his team to sell some patches on his shirt. Nike did not allow him to do so.
Whether Uniqlo can cash in on Federer will be a question. The brand did not effectively market its deal with Novak Djokovic and they parted ways in 2017 when his deal ended.
This bothers me. Watching one of your favorite athletes trade the sexy Nike swoosh for the boxy billboard of Uniqlo would be like watching Brad Pitt leave Jennifer Aniston for a Honda Odyssey. I guess if that van were paying me $300 million guaranteed, I’d happily start banging the creases in the back seats. Just make sure the interior is leather because cloth seats will blister your dick with rug burns. Trust me.
Federer has been the face of Nike tennis for over twenty years. Nike clearly thinks that he’s in the twilight of his career, so they’re not going to throw the bank at him. But he just seems like one of those rare unicorns who will continue to dominate his sport until he’s dead. Does he have ten years left? Science tells us no, but Federer’s clearly been reading the TB12 method and probably has the same type of dude that Lebron and Brady have; a dude who sprays him with the magical, misted jizz of Himalayan monks, lubricating his knee joints and expanding his prime beyond the confines of reason. I want one of those guys.
Uniqlo had Djokovich until last year, when his deal ended. He was their guy and it didn’t really work out that well apparently. Maybe because Djokovich’s head is shaped with the same right angles that you see in Uniqlo’s terrible logo.
Dude looks like he was born out of the wrong hole.
Oh well, I suppose that asking your favorite athletes to retire in the image you like best is naïve. Excited to see how Lebron looks in purple and gold Asics in a couple years.