Italy striker Balotelli to wear Puma boots in sponsorship deal

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Puma has signed up Italian striker Mario Balotelli to wear its football boots, part of the German sportswear company's efforts to strengthen a footwear business that has lost out to rivals Nike and Adidas in recent years.

Italy striker Balotelli to wear Puma boots in sponsorship deal

(Reuters)

Puma, which is 84 percent-owned by French luxury group Kering, wants to sign up big-name players ahead of next year's football World Cup in Brazil.

The Italy striker joins a line-up of Puma sponsored stars including Argentinian footballer Sergio Aguero, Spaniard Cesc Fabregas, German Marco Reus, and Colombian Radamel Falcao.

Puma, which ranks a distant third in the sports apparel industry behind Nike and Adidas, did not disclose the cost of its partnership with Balotelli.

In November, Chief Executive Bjoern Gulden said the company needed to focus less on fashion, as it had done over the last two decades, and more on performance sportswear.

One of Gulden's priorities is to fix footwear sales, which fell 7.5 percent in the first nine months of the year and which he described as Puma's "Achilles' heel".

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)


Share

1 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world