By Alexander Krassimirov
January 15 – Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia have opted to sign a kit deal with Italian firm Lotto instead of switching to US giant Nike. The new three-year contract with the Italian supplier starts next season and replacing another Italian company, Legea.
CSKA’s partnership with Lotto was presented at a special press conference in Sofia, attended by club president Alexander Tomov, executive director Alexander Todorov and Krasimir Tsonov, CEO of the Sport Depot retailer, which is the official representative of Lotto in Bulgaria.
A key decision for CSKA to go with Lotto was the commitment from the Italian company to provide the club free kit via Sport Depot. “Lotto will dress CSKA for free. We signed a contract that can be called a sponsorship as free equipment is a kind of sponsorship. Before now we paid a lot of money for equipment. We will sell our products in all stores of Lotto in Bulgaria, which are 15 or 16 in number. We estimate the revenue from the sale of items to increase by four or five times,” said Tomov.
“We had a good offer from Nike, but that of Lotto was a bargain. Distribution network also influenced our decision. There is no need to make shops, as our partner Sport Depot has already built them,” added Tomov.
Although the new equipment of CSKA will be produced entirely in Italy, the price of the shirts will be kept low at BGN 59 (€ 30).
“In each of our stores will have a ‘corner’ for CSKA products. CSKA shirts will be sold on a par with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, etc. We have many customers throughout the country. For us, this is a step forward. All the equipment will be made entirely in Italy. The contract is for three years. The jersey of CSKA for the new season will cost BGN 59. This is a wonderful price! In comparison, the Ludogorets shirt (Macron) sell for BGN 100 (€ 50),” said Tsonov.
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