"However, we are thankful and proud to have been a part of Roger's incredible journey and wish him the best in the future."<doc-sep>Roger Federer on day One of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon. Roger Federer's career-long association with Nike appeared to be over on Monday as the Wimbledon champion walked on to Centre Court to open the defense of his title wearing a Uniqlo-branded outfit. Gone was the Nike swish from his bandana and the RF logo that usually appears on his jacket was also missing. While thousands of fans around Centre Court wore baseball caps displaying the RF logo, Federer can no longer use it as the design is owned by the American apparel and equipment company that had sponsored the Swiss during all of his previous record 20 Grand Slam wins. Federer, who wore a plain white bandana with two small red squares on the side while defeating Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-1 6-3 6-4 in the first round, has yet to comment on the switch to the Japanese casual wear designer.<doc-sep>The partnership between Roger Federer and Uniqlo becoming official on Monday was the topic of the day. The Swiss player headed into the Centre Court for his first round match against the Serb Dusan Lajovic wearing headband, shorts, t-shirt, wristbands producted by the Japanese brand. ‘I was excited to wear Uniqlo today', said Federer. 'I must tell you, it’s been a long time coming. I felt very good out there. It’s also crucial to play well, so it was helpful. The RF logo is with Nike at the moment, but it will come to me at some point. I hope rather sooner than later, that Nike can be nice and helpful in the process to bring it over to me. It’s also something that was very important for me, for the fans really. Look, it’s the process. But the good news is that it will come with me at one point. They are my initials. They are mine. The good thing is it’s not theirs forever. In a short period of time, it will come to me. Obviously we also need to figure out with Uniqlo when at one point we can start selling clothes for the public as well. All this has just gotten underway. We’re hopeful the beginning of next year people can also start buying my stuff. For the moment, as fast at retailing as they are, as great as they are, it just needs a bit of time.’ Uniqlo doesn't produce tennis shoes, so another brand will be needed for Federer. ‘With the shoe situation, I don’t have a shoe deal. I’m looking forward to see what shoes I will be wearing in the near future. For now, I will be wearing Nike. They have shown interest to have a shoe deal with me, as well. Ties are not broken there. I have deep roots with Nike. I’ve had a great relationship over the last 20 years. But everything is open. Yeah, it’s very exciting also again to see what’s out there, who wants to do something with me.'<doc-sep>The king of tennis has left Nike for Uniqlo. Japanese fast-fashion apparel brand Uniqlo signed Swiss tennis star Roger Federer to an endorsement deal reportedly worth $300 million over 10 years. That’s $30 million a year for the athlete who has won the most men’s singles Majors of any tennis player ever (20), but turns 37 next month, and will certainly not be competing 10 years from now. For Federer, the price is right: his Nike contract was worth around $10 million a year. But why does forking over so much money for Federer make sense for Uniqlo? Uniqlo is owned by Tokyo conglomerate Fast Retailing (FRCOY), which also owns fashion labels J Brand and Theory. Fast Retailing brought in about $17 billion (USD) in revenue last year, and more than 75% of it came from Uniqlo. Tadashi Yanai, the ambitious founder and CEO of Fast Retailing, has been saying for years that he wants to get Uniqlo to $10 billion in US sales by 2020. It isn’t there yet. (Uniqlo did nearly $14 billion in global revenue in 2017, and more than half of it was in Japan, though in the final quarter of the year Uniqlo for the first time did more revenue outside Japan than in Japan.) Uniqlo doesn’t do many athlete endorsements. That’s because unlike Nike, Adidas, or Under Armour, it isn’t a sports apparel brand. It is a fast-fashion brand, a la H&M, that makes performance athletic apparel along with all the rest of its apparel. Story continues The few athlete signings Uniqlo has made were all in tennis or golf. That’s why Federer makes sense as the brand’s new sports face—especially after Uniqlo lost Novak Djokovic last year to Lacoste. Djokovic had been Uniqlo’s most prominent athlete ambassador. Federer is a massive upgrade, a bigger global face for the brand. Roger Federer sends a ball into the stands after defeating Dusan Lajovic in the Men’s Singles first round at Wimbledon in London, July 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland) Federer is also almost certainly one of the select few athletes who will continue to be marketable past the time when he retires from his sport. Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Gary Player, Serena Williams, and perhaps Danica Patrick are other examples. That means Uniqlo is banking on using Federer in brand advertising even when he’s no longer competing on the court. “Mr. Federer is one of the greatest champions in history; my respect for him goes beyond sport,” Tadashi Yanai said in a press release. “Our partnership will be about innovation on and off court… Uniqlo will help Mr. Federer continue taking tennis to new places, while exploring innovations in a number of areas including technology and design with him.” Federer will wear Uniqlo at all major tennis tournaments during the year, and will wear Uniqlo LifeWear (basically the company’s athleisure line) off the court, a company spokesperson tells Yahoo Finance. Uniqlo will also “combine Roger’s expert professional insight with our most advanced proprietary technologies” to create performance apparel. Uniqlo does not make tennis shoes, so when Federer showed up at Wimbledon on Monday in a Uniqlo polo and headband, he still wore Nike sneakers. Still, Nike shares dipped 2% on Monday on the Federer news. “We don’t comment on athlete contracts,” a Nike spokesperson says. “However, we’re thankful and proud to have been a part of Roger’s incredible journey and wish him the best in the future.” There is also the question of the “RF” logo that adorns Nike tennis merchandise. Nike owns the logo, but Federer said at Wimbledon on Monday that he expects Uniqlo to make a deal with Nike to buy the logo. “It will come to me at some point,” he said. “I hope rather sooner than later, that Nike can be nice and helpful in the process to bring it over to me.” Uniqlo’s portfolio of athlete ambassadors now includes Federer, Japanese tennis player Kei Nishkori, Japanese wheelchair tennis player Shingo Kunieda, British wheelchair tennis player Gordon Reid, and Australian golfer Adam Scott. — Daniel Roberts is the sports business writer at Yahoo Finance. He hosts the podcast Sportsbook and the video series Business + Coffee. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite. Read more: Inside Uniqlo’s sports marketing strategy Jay-Z is Puma Basketball’s new creative director Why Chloe Kim is a ‘marketer’s dream’ NBA sponsorship spend tops $1 billion for the first time NBA star Draymond Green on his business approach: ‘Follow the CEOs’<doc-sep>
Roger Federer surprised everyone on Monday heading into the Centre Court wearing an UNIQLO jacket, headband, t-shirt and shorts. According to ESPN, Federer will earn $300 million over 10 years ($30 million per year) even when he will stop playing, as provided by the contract agreement. Federer's team could sell some patches on his shirt, which could make the Swiss earn even more. The Swiss kept wearing Nike in the tournaments played even after March 1, when the contract expired. He had a $100 million ten-year contract with the American brand from 2008 to 2018, Roger was searching for more money but Nike offered him to expand the line through the RF logo, owned by the company since 2010. The UNIQLO Chairman and Founder Tadashi Yanai said: 'Federer is one of the greatest champions in history; my respect for him goes beyond sport. Our partnership will be about innovation on and off court. We share a goal of making positive change in the world, and I hope together we can bring the highest quality of life to the greatest number of people. UNIQLO will help Mr. Federer continue taking tennis to new places, while exploring innovations in a number of areas including technology and design with him.' Federer said: 'I am deeply committed to tennis and to winning championships. But like UNIQLO, l also have great love for life, culture and humanity. We share a strong passion to have a positive impact on the world around us and look forward to combining our creative endeavors.' ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: 'I give my best in everything: tennis, soccer, golf...'