In mid-May 2018, the Nigerian Football Federation announced that Nike 'receives three million orders for Nigeria's jerseys', an incredible number. When the kits were launched on June 1 2018, the sold out within minutes both on Nike.com and the stores of independent retailers. Has Nike sold around three million Nigeria kits in much less than a day?
Has Nike Produced / Received 3 Million Orders For Nigeria 2018 World Cup Kits?
When the NFF said that Nike received three million orders for Eagles' jersey, many couldn't believe the number. In fact, if we compare the number to the number other World Cup / club team kits are sold, three million seems unreal high. In fact, less than 2 million kits of the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid are sold in one year. The best selling national team football kit was Germany's 2014 World Cup jersey, which was sold around three million times (Adidas produced new jerseys as demand was much higher than expected - Adidas sold 1.3 million Germany jerseys in the year of the Euro 2016).
Interestingly, there were no authentic Nike Nigeria kits available, and the shirt was also not available in Kids sizes.
The NFF said on their website about the meeting with Nike in Amsterdam, Nike's Europe headquarters: "Both organizations used the opportunity to appraise their running partnership agreement, signed in London three years ago, and while both expressed satisfaction with the contract performance, the imperative of penning a new, improved contract was high on the agenda."
We don't believe that Nike has produced three million Nigeria jerseys and think that the Nigerian Football Federation just announced that Nike received three million pre-orders in order to seal a better deal with the US-giant when the contract expires at the end of 2018. Nigeria's current contract with Nike is just worth 1 million USD / year.
What do you think? Do you believe that Nike sold / produced 3 million Nigeria 2018 World Cup kits? Let us know in the comments below.