Does Nike no longer care about footballs?

Nike's legacy in the world of football is also measured by the aesthetic imprint it has given not only to the teams but also to the various leagues. Nike has been a great protagonist, for example, in the panorama of footballs, drawing a furrow between the past era of footballs made by individual clubs and the modern one of the unique ball for each league. It all started in 2007 when the American brand overwhelmed this market by signing agreements with what at the time were the three major European champions: namely Serie A, the Spanish La Liga and the Premier League. In that season, the three leagues adopted the Nike Total 90 ball, specifically the T90 Aerow II, which later became iconic with its red bands on a white background for the "summer" version, and the purple ones on a yellow base for the winter one. The following years then came the Total90 Omni, the Total90 Ascente, the Tota90 Tracer and finally the Total90 Seitiro in 2011/2012, with the Nike Maxim, which returned to the classic shape with 30 panels, which marked the end of the T90 series in vintage 2012/2013. 

Almost 20 years later, however, the very three championships that had given rise to Nike's hegemony in the world of football have decided to abandon the brand. The first to say goodbye to the Swoosh was LaLiga which in 2019 decided not to renew the contract with Nike by deciding to rely on PUMA for the production of the game balls. From the 2022/2023 season, Serie A also decided not to continue its relationship with Nike, switching to PUMA. The Premier League looked like the last major league set to keep the partnership but that won't be the case and, with the contract expiring in 2025, no agreement has been reached between the parties for the renewal. To replace Nike, also in this case it should be PUMA, intending in all respects to become the new leader in the production of balls for the top European championships. Nike therefore has no league left, as the Bundesliga will confirm its relationship with Derbystar and Ligue1 with Kipsta. Evidently this is a precise repositioning strategy of Nike in the world of football, which also concerns the sponsorship of clubs and athletes. The news on the contrary is PUMA's interest in ball technology, which for several years has been the emblem of the evolution of the game towards levels of engineering and perfection that is pushing performance on the pitch further and further.