PSG played out a rare mid-season exhibition game against the Saudi Arabia All Stars XI on Thursday, clinching a 5-4 win. It was an absolutely action-packed goal fest that basically had everything to entertain the viewers.
The game was basically brought together by the Saudi Arabia authorities after Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in the country was confirmed.
Who wouldn’t want to watch another round of Ronaldo vs Leo Messi? This game was labelled as the ‘final’ Ronaldo vs Messi game, knowing both players are nearing the end of their careers and now playing on completely different continents.
Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the game. Messi opened the scoring, Ronaldo scored a brace, Neymar missed a penalty and Kylian Mbappe ended up scoring a goal as well.
The game was not competitive as per, but just the world-class talents on the pitch having some fun and putting up a delightful show for the fans in attendance as well as those watching on.
While much of the spotlight was taken between Ronaldo and Messi, with their pictures together winning hearts all over, PSG slyly debuted a brand new jersey during the game.
It was a unique away kit which Nike had created to be worn for this game, knowing the number of fans who would be tuning in from around the globe.
Nike designed a black t-shirt with yellow web-like patterns all over the kit.
The ‘GOAT’ logo was attached to the side of the kit and their club logo as well as the sponsors one was also in yellow. But the one thing about this kit that really stands out is the logo which has replaced Nike’s symbol.
The American brand have conveniently placed the Air Jordan Jumpman logo as a clever marketing trick for this kit alone. The Jumpman logo is the silhouette of NBA icon Michael Jordan’s iconic dunking pose.
This change makes the jersey look more like a basketball jersey than a traditional football kit. The Air Jordan brand is owned by Nike, but Jordan himself also gets to bag a portion of the profits from the sales of any attire for his brand.
The Basketball legend gets lucrative incentives from the sales of PSG kits as well. As because their kits are sold under his sub-brand in Nike, he gets a 5% share of every shirt sold for the Ligue 1 side.
In fact, it has been reported that Jordan pocketed $7 million thanks to the Lionel Messi shirt sale frenzy that happened after the Argentine icon joined PSG in 2021.
As a result, he will also be bagging a decent amount of money for every one of these jerseys with the Jumpman logo representing him in it as well.
Considering that the slick kit is already winning over many fans on social media, it’s likely that Nike will be able to sell many of these kits – especially those with the names of Messi and Mbappe at the back after their impressive World Cup campaigns.
Michael Jordan won’t have to do much promoting either, because the thrilling PSG-Saudi Arabia All-Stars game did it for him and allows him to sit at his home and count the cash once it comes in.