New Balance has secured an extension to its agreement with Ligue 1 club LOSC Lille to continue serving as the French team’s kit supplier.
The sportswear brand will manufacture four kits per season, along with training wear, in what the club claims to be the biggest product range in its history. The two parties will also collaborate on a footwear collection each season in a deal which covers both the first team and Lille’s academy.
The French top flight club initially penned an agreement with New Balance ahead of the 2016/17 season with the partnership due to come to an end at the conclusion of the 2020/21 campaign.
“New Balance is excited to build on what’s already proven to be an incredibly successful relationship with LOSC Lille,” commented General Manager of New Balance Football, Kenny McCallum.
“The club’s wealth of history and commitment to development really mirrors our own heritage in sport and desire to innovate. We’ve been side by side in some of the most successful seasons in recent times, during which we’ve seen LOSC’s influence across Ligue 1 and Europe grow. The club has so much potential, we’re really ambitious about the future and re-defining what it really means to be a kit supplier.”
Through the agreement, Lille products will also be sold across New Balance retail stores globally.
Olivier Létang, Chairman of LOSC Lille, added: “In a period where the health and economic crisis requires us to reinvent ourselves, with New Balance we have the ambition to innovate and bring some freshness. This partnership is powerful and ambitious and enables LOSC to further develop its product and merchandising offer, with the aim of increasing the club’s profile in France and around the world.”
New Balance recently announced it would take over AS Roma’s kit contract from Nike at the beginning of the 2021/22 season, with the Serie A side snubbing UK brand Castore in favour of the sportswear giant.
The firm also has deals in place with a handful of clubs, including FC Porto, Athletic Club, and the Costa Rica and Panama national teams.
