Nigeria’s national team will end its 11-year association with Nike and return to Adidas after agreeing to an $8.5 million-a-year equipment deal that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says is the biggest in African football.
According to ESPN, former NFF president Ibrahim Gusau, who resigned along with the federation’s executive committee on Thursday, disclosed the agreement at a press conference in Abuja, saying adidas will pay the NFF $4.5 million every year and another $4 million worth of equipment for Nigeria’s national teams.
Furthermore, the NFF will get a 20% royalty on merchandise sales, potentially pushing the value of the agreement way beyond the guaranteed $8.5 million annually.
Gusau revealed that the contract has been signed but was originally scheduled to be announced in September.
The contract was worth $500,000 in 2015 and remains at it. It is about the highest kit sponsorship in Africa. No other country in Africa has that kind of sponsorship,” Gusau told reporters in Abuja.
“Adidas will pay Nigeria $4.5 million every year in cash, and then they will provide kits worth $4 million every year.”
Nigeria’s new agreement also represents a substantial increase on its outgoing Nike contract, which Gusau said had become inadequate to meet the requirements of the federation’s national teams.
“As [then] president, I cannot gift someone a jersey because we met a contract that has been running for 11 years on the same terms worth $500,000 in cash and $1 million in kit supply.
“$500,000 in 2015 and still $500,000 in 2026. It is like you have nothing.”
Gusau said the limitations of the existing arrangement had become so severe that the federation was purchasing additional equipment for its teams, including Nigeria’s under-20 women’s team for the World Cup in Poland.
“We have to buy jerseys for the girls that travelled to Poland because $1 million worth of equipment cannot even service Super Eagles qualifiers for the World Cup and Nations Cup as well as Super Falcons,” he said.
Gusau said the inadequacies of that deal prompted the federation to begin negotiations with Nike in 2024 for improved terms.
“This was unacceptable to us as a country, and we looked out and found that even countries that did not have our profile in football had better deals,” he said.
“These smaller countries, with less visibility than us, had better deals. And so we engaged Nike about getting an improved contract. This process has been ongoing since 2024, involving back-and-forth discussions with them, but we could not reach an agreement because we could not accept their offers.
Gusau pointed to adidas’ larger retail presence in Nigeria as another reason for making the switch and said the company’s planned expansion could increase the NFF’s income from its 20% royalty on sales.
“Nike has only one shop in Nigeria. That is in Lagos. Adidas has about 13 shops, so they are visible everywhere,” he said.
Gusau said the additional revenue would also give the NFF greater flexibility in recruiting coaches for its senior national teams, an area where finances have repeatedly limited the federation’s options.
“The issue of people clamoring for a high-profile coach for the Super Eagles or Super Falcons that we were running away from because we asked ourselves, ‘How do we pay?’ will be a thing of the past going forward,” he said.
“The money will be enough for NFF to hire high-profile coaches for the Super Eagles and Super Falcons.”
Morocco’s current agreement with Puma is the highest publicly known figure and is reportedly valued at $1.7 million.
Adidas supplied Nigeria around the country’s 1994 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and its first World Cup appearance later that year before Nike took over in 1995.
Nigeria returned to Adidas in 2004 and remained with the German company through 2014, a period that included the Super Eagles’ 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title.
Nike’s return in 2015 produced some of Nigeria’s most recognisable kits, most notably the Super Eagles’ 2018 World Cup jersey, which became an international commercial and fashion success.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
