Image Source: Adidas
Back in August, Adidas signed Ninja to their brand, making him the first pro gamer to partner with the German sporting giant. Adidas has expanded its promotional efforts beyond athletes for a while now, and it's also inked deals with artists like Kanye, Pharrell, and Beyonce.
That said, the first results of the Adidas and Ninja collaboration have just been revealed, and lets just say I have no desire to pick up one at all. The "Time In" Nite Jogger is slated for release on 31 December at 3PM GMT, and it's intended as a homage to the hours creatives around the world have put into honing their skills.
Image Source: Adidas
“If a kid from Chicago who just loves playing video games can collaborate with one of the sporting world's most iconic brands to launch a shoe together, anything is truly possible. It's through this philosophy that I hope I can help inspire the next generation of creators to realize their dreams– if you're willing to put the time in you can achieve anything," says Ninja in the Adidas press release.
Well, sure, but Ninja's colours aren't the best for a shoe. The new Nite Jogger features Ninja's signature colours of blue and yellow, which is alright but not great. However, what's really horrifying is the inner face of the sneaker, which boasts the words "Ninja" and "Time In" emblazoned on the sides in big, blocky, yellow letters. This sure isn't subtle, and not in a good way at all.
Adult sizes will cost US$150, while the ones for kids go at US$120.
Deals like this were reportedly part of the reason why Ninja moved from Twitch to Mixer. Jessica Blevins, Ninja's wife and manager, told Business Insider that Twitch had been proposing a new contract that would have limited how Ninja could grow his brand outside of the gaming space. This meant that they would potentially have had to go back on certain licensing deals that they had worked so hard to attain.
On the topic of the Adidas deal, the German company has previously teased the possibility of products in "either the physical or virtual world", so you can probably expect more Ninja-branded Adidas gear in the future.
Source: Adidas
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