Puma end deal a year early.

Theta

I find this very disappointing, I rather liked the Puma gear and we will no doubt get what has become almost the standard strip of canterbury with a different shade of green now.


http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2013/0124/1224329239698.html

Rugby: Puma have prematurely cancelled Irish rugby's lucrative kit deal a year early. The German sportswear brand took the decision in December, four years into a five year multi-million euro contract.

This will be officially confirmed after this afternoon's IRFU committee meeting and means the union must find a new kit sponsor before the November 2013 internationals.

Puma have explained their decision to leave the Irish market as “strategic”.

Several Irish players - including current national captain Jamie Heaslip, Tommy Bowe and Luke Fitzgerald - were on five-figure boot deals, which also ended in 2012.

leonard7

well...here's hoping for adidas

Walthari

For this I think we can all thank Declan Kidney for his catastrophic win ratio.

Puma know that the national side is toast, clever thinking by them it must be said.

BobBobBobBob

Interesting...I like the Puma gear, had the World Cup jersey and a hoodie. I would like to see O'Neills make the kit but that will never happen.

awec

BobBobBobBob wrote: »

Interesting...I like the Puma gear, had the World Cup jersey and a hoodie. I would like to see O'Neills make the kit but that will never happen.

Ugh, no. O'Neills gear is brutal.

Walthari

BobBobBobBob wrote: »

Interesting...I like the Puma gear, had the World Cup jersey and a hoodie. I would like to see O'Neills make the kit but that will never happen.

O'Neills, don't make me heave.

ALH-06

Walthari wrote: »

Puma know that the national side is toast, clever thinking by them it must be said.

This pointless negativity aside, I wonder what the actual reasoning is. It could be wider company policy. The article mentions that 'Puma have explained their decision to leave the Irish market as “strategic”'. Reflects something more wide-scale than the IRFU contract.

BobBobBobBob

Just my opinion. I would be happy with Adidas!

.ak

Pfft, it has nothing to do with Ireland's win/loss ratio. Puma are broke.

Walthari

ALH-06 wrote: »

This pointless negativity aside, I wonder what the actual reasoning is. It could be wider company policy. The article mentions that 'Puma have explained their decision to leave the Irish market as “strategic”'. Reflects something more wide-scale than the IRFU contract.

Puma recognise a sinking ship. They do not want to be associated with the last dying kicks of the golden generation.

IRFU contract is a drop in the ocean for them.

WesternZulu

awec wrote: »

Ugh, no. O'Neills gear is brutal.

Harlequins have a good jersey by them in fairness.

Hagz

Thank God. Is there a kit more rancid than ours at the moment? Adidas pleeeeeze

Teferi

.ak wrote: »

Pfft, it has nothing to do with Ireland's win/loss ratio. Puma are broke.

+1.

Puma having money issues I would imagine.

its_phil

Canterbury I'd be in favour of. Love their Leinster gear.

Leslie91

Warrior have done a great job with the Liverpool gear, wonder would they be interested in moving into rugby now too?.

awec

Leslie91 wrote: »

Warrior have done a great job with the Liverpool gear, wonder would they be interested in moving into rugby now too?.

Would be an interesting move for sure.

CIARAN_BOYLE

I hope that the IRFU made them buy out the contract. They are obliged to pay money and provide kit for another year and if they don't then they can pay the union an exit price.

Walthari

Teferi wrote: »

+1.

Puma having money issues I would imagine.

Delusional - There is nothing wrong with PUMA and the IRFU contract is absolute peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

its_phil

Leslie91 wrote: »

Warrior have done a great job with the Liverpool gear, wonder would they be interested in moving into rugby now too?.

What! That stuff is rotten.

Signed
A Manchester United Fan

But still, it isn't nice IMO

Teferi

Walthari wrote: »

Delusional - There is nothing wrong with PUMA and the IRFU contract is absolute peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

:rolleyes:

tolosenc

The current French gear is very nice. Woudn't mind some of that.

ALH-06

Walthari wrote: »

Puma recognise a sinking ship. They do not want to be associated with the last dying kicks of the golden generation.

No, nothing to do with that. It's wider company policy. Looks like they just want to pull out of rugby market / Irish rugby as part of a restructuring programme.

Puma is frantically cutting costs, reducing its product range and trimming management following a profit warning over the summer after customers in its main markets in Europe held back on purchases of sports shoes and t-shirts... "They are starting all over," said one sector analyst who wished to remain anonymous, adding the move was not a surprise following PPR's criticism of the marketing strategy. Puma shares were down 0.3 percent at 0930 GMT.

http://news.yahoo.com/puma-ceo-steps-down-ppr-steps-093833446--finance.html

Leslie91

its_phil wrote: »

What! That stuff is rotten.

Signed
A Manchester United Fan

But still, it isn't nice IMO

Don't get me wrong I am a Liverpool fan and do not care much for ManYoo but fair is fair, our warrior shirt is the best we've had for a while.

As for your tablecloth jeeeez.

Hagz

Wouldn't be surprised if under armour jumped on this opportunity. They seem to be making a push over here recently.

ALH-06

Walthari wrote: »

Delusional - There is nothing wrong with PUMA

Try to back up these statements mate. Refer to link above.

Eponymous

Isn't Wales' deal with Under Armour up around now too? I wonder if Puma's strategy is to only supply one Union and jumping now to bag them?

As for a new kit deal, Adidas would be good, but given they've just bagged Italy and France, I can't see them supplying a third Union in one tournament. Nike gear has gone to sh1t. Neither Sarries nor Toulouse gear is particularly interesting.

I wonder if Kukri would be in with a shout. Some of their stuff is pretty nice and they've done a great job with the Ulster gear too.

Noopti

Walthari wrote: »

Delusional - There is nothing wrong with PUMA and the IRFU contract is absolute peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

If your argument holds water then why cancel the deal now, with one year remaining? Surely Puma would have recognized the slide in performance last year, or perhaps just after the world cup?

Saying it is because Puma aren't happy with the performance of the team is conspiratorial nonsense. This is a business decision, so it comes down to money. And even if the IRFU deal is a drop in the ocean, if a company is trying to save money they will look at multiple "drops in the ocean" and the cases for offloading them. I was with a company previously which was costing about 1 million to run per year, and it was closed down by the parent company which had an annual revenue of something close to 10 billion.

If the IRFU is just a drop in the ocean to them, then why would Puma bother with it in the first place?

Imhof Tank

I'd say die marke mit den 3 streifen would probably involve far too much white on what should be a solid green jersey.

.ak

Walthari wrote: »

Delusional - There is nothing wrong with PUMA and the IRFU contract is absolute peanuts in the greater scheme of things.

In a recession it wouldn't be peanuts at all. Also consider Ireland's world rankings after the AIs. The win/loss ratio is only chastised by rugby nerds such as ourselves. The average Joe will just look at the world rankings. We're in a better place than we thought we'd be at, and another sponsor will jump at the opportunity.

Larbre34

Canterbury have got back in with England and are having a bit of a resurgence in Europe generally after their own difficulties, personally I like the gear they make for Leinster et al. so I wouldnt mind them coming back.

So long as its not a deal with one of those fly-by-night makers like Macron or Burrda Sport, I mean who the F are they? Although I see Scotland are going from CCC to Macron themselves

Acceptable - CCC, Adidas, Nike, Kappa, Rugbytech, Kooga, Kukri (at a push)

Unacceptable - Reebok, O'Neills, Macron, Burrda Sport, Errea, Samurai, and whoever the hell ISC are

CIARAN_BOYLE

To be honest I don't really care who the kit provider is as long as they provide a significant amount of cash to the union

pickarooney

I like the Samurai and Kukri stuff myself, in as much as I like any non-cotton shirts.

awec

pickarooney wrote: »

I like the Samurai and Kukri stuff myself, in as much as I like any non-cotton shirts.

The non-cotton shirts are the best!

JustinDee

Why don't people just wait for the actual details in official announcements instead of info that is happened upon?
This will be out later. Then it will be clear how long more the teams wear Puma kit and what actual markets Puma are opting out from.
Laters.

P_1

Weren't Ireland the only rugby team supplied by Puma?

I certainly can't think of any other teams they supplied

fanki na pengin

Hagz wrote: »

Wouldn't be surprised if under armour jumped on this opportunity. They seem to be making a push over here recently.

Honestly wouldn't mind this, I like their stuff.

thomond2006

JustinDee wrote: »

Why don't people just wait for the actual details in official announcements instead of info that is happened upon?
This will be out later. Then it will be clear how long more the teams wear Puma kit and what actual markets Puma are opting out from.
Laters.

lawl

sorry to burst your bubble

Larbre34

JustinDee wrote: »

Why don't people just wait for the actual details in official announcements instead of info that is happened upon?
This will be out later. Then it will be clear how long more the teams wear Puma kit and what actual markets Puma are opting out from.
Laters.

1) thats boring and its out 2) End of the current international season, i.e. June 3) more or less Europe

Larbre34

P_1 wrote: »

Weren't Ireland the only rugby team supplied by Puma?

I certainly can't think of any other teams they supplied

Montpellier

Thud

there seems to be a lot of the world cup stock on sale in sports shops and websites even now (http://www.lovell-rugby.co.uk/Rugby-Shirts/Puma/Ireland-RWC-2011-Alternate-S-or-S-Shirt). Not sure what sort of deal it was but would say shirt sales were a lot lower than expected...ultra tight fit didn't help either.

O'Neills Harlequins stuff is nice but the rest of their rugby jerseys look the same as the sublimated jerseys that all the other team kit manufacturers are selling

bbuzz

To me it just seems as if Puma are pulling out of rugby. It seemed in the last few years as if their push into rugby had ran out of steam. Only other team I can think of is Bath, but I'm not even sure if they still have Puma kits?

As long as the IRFU don't go for Burrda I'm happy!

eyeball kid

Wouldn't be too keen on Canterbury coming back in. Didn't like their last Ireland jersey at all. Thought they were very lazy around that time with their identikits for Ire, Scot and SA.

Think Adidas do some lovely kits. Wouldn't mind seeing them get it. Also Rugbytech should be looked at. They've had some nice jerseys for Connacht over the last few years.

ALH-06

Larbre34 wrote: »

Acceptable - CCC, Adidas, Nike, Kappa, Rugbytech, Kooga, Kukri (at a push)

Would be delighted with Adidas or Nike - they could come up with something very interesting. Would be disappointed with Kappa and Rugbytech, though. Never liked their stuff. Kukri can also be a bit noisy, i.e. Ulster jersey.

Larbre34 wrote: »

Unacceptable - Reebok, O'Neills, Macron, Burrda Sport, Errea, Samurai, and whoever the hell ISC are

Agreed. Reebok is gash, Macron is only for failed sports teams like Edinburgh and Leeds United, and the others are far worse.

JustinDee

thomond2006 wrote: »

lawl

sorry to burst your bubble

Whatever a lawl is, the dates are wrong and people saying that its just the Irish market are also wrong.

Cienciano

Oh please not O'Neills! The last jersey I had made by them looked ok, but you sweat badly because the material was a horrible nylon and it wouldnt be far off giving you a rash! Slim chance it'll be them anyway.
Reebok are as bad, really low quality stuff.

Definitely Adidas or canterbury, nike a bit further down the list.

Definitely nothing to do with team performance, no company quits a deal early due to team performance, especially with one year left.

.ak

JustinDee wrote: »

Why don't people just wait for the actual details in official announcements instead of info that is happened upon?
This will be out later. Then it will be clear how long more the teams wear Puma kit and what actual markets Puma are opting out from.
Laters.

Well, that would defeat the idea of boards.ie being a discussion site...

Risteard

Whatever kit manufacturer produces a cotton version of the jersey with a collar is fine by me.

ALH-06

P_1 wrote: »

Weren't Ireland the only rugby team supplied by Puma?

I certainly can't think of any other teams they supplied

Bath.

A few rugby league teams too.

thomond2006

JustinDee wrote: »

Whatever a lawl is, the dates are wrong and people saying that its just the Irish market are also wrong.

say it out loud and you'll get it

maybe the IRFU press release should be before the story went out in the press, so the IRFU are completely to blame.

Maybe we shouldn't debate lineups before they are announced as well?

P_1

Adidas for me please,

Imagine the current French jersey but in lime green

BobBobBobBob

P_1 wrote: »

Weren't Ireland the only rugby team supplied by Puma?

I certainly can't think of any other teams they supplied

http://www.puma.com/rugby