Djokovic’s sponsor Lacoste to ‘review events’ around Australian deportation

R. Schweikart

Professional
All sports contracts have an escape clause for behavior not in the public interest as well as morality clauses. A conviction is not needed - substantial allegations admitted to a court of law are enough.

And Lacoste can define "public interest" and "morality" as they see fit?
I don't think so.
 

Adv. Edberg

Legend
Maybe because they can't just "drop someone" when they have a contract with him?
You know, such a paper signed by both parties.
But maybe they have an vaccination clause in it in Djokovic's case.....o_O

i know. But they usually have clauses in it that if their client says or does something stupid they can simply just drop them. Like if Djoko would’ve said something racist, he’d be gone instantly.

going around to events knowing you have covid is a criminal offence. So should be enough to drop somebody for
 

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
I think they pay him to play and model their gear. If he is not playing and going to miss most of the season. They like put it out hoping to stop the calls.
Not all contracts are the same. He might've been able to negotiate a favorable contract considering his status. I do agree they just want to talk and see what he is thinking about the current season. HAving lawyers read the contract and ponder their options.

Agree, of course, the devil is in the details re a morals clause and the rest of the deal. :happydevil: And, yes, virtually all tennis players with a clothing sponsor would have requirements for wearing and playing. A clothing brand is likely not paying for Egg to “recharge.” :giggle: Only Rogie gets an endorsement from a clothing brand just to license his name and likeness. They don’t care if he plays or not because he’s sexi-Rogie and sells whether he’s styling on the court or not.:love:
 

N01E

Hall of Fame
from
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to

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the Novak Djokovic story - on Netflix soon
If I had a nickel for every time Djokovic was a face for Mickey Mouse tennis collection, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
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Pretty normal reaction since they want to know what his scheduling and plans are with mandatory vaccines becoming more common. If he doesn't play then outfits they prepared for the events won't sell well and I assume he has some contract obligations (Lacoste isn't Uniqlo). Head obviously doesn't care (Asics probably too). Controversy may boost sales in the short run (his Lacoste fan pack that they just released already sold out in all, but 2 sizes and is marked as fast selling on their website), but they obviously have to think about the future.
Ok, now the fan set (t-shirt + cap + bag) is completely sold out. AO22 jacket in my region also almost gone as well (3 sizes out of 8 left), maybe because it's "only" 160 EUR compared to their usual 200. They obviously want to keep him, but maybe now found a way to do so cheaper? They are probably doing some market research, but if I had to guess then getting rid of Novak wouldn't really help their sales. They know all eyes will be on him when he returns, so it would be beneficial to have him in your team. Lacoste CEO seems to be getting along with Djokovic pretty well (was at some of his USO, Rome and RG matches). He even called him the GOAT last year and pointed out that he was the first RG champion wearing Lacoste since... Lacoste himself. Don't think any other brand released so many items for one player (even got his sunglasses line) and they were constantly involved with ND fanbase with giveaways. Since W18 the only GS finals without someone wearing their clothes were RG19 and USO20 (had 1 SFinalist in each) and are one of the few brands that got CYGS (Nike got a few, don't remember others), so they got more legitimacy as a performance oriented brand. If they didn't have Medvedev then there would be 0% that they would let Novak go, but even now chances are quite low. Ironically I think they, not the court should have the right to act based on public perception of someone rather than that person views, as it's just business at the end of the day. Weird how they forgot about 2020 campaign where all the profits from ND collection went to help fighting covid. Maybe they'll try the silent approach, we'll see.
Agree, of course, the devil is in the details re a morals clause and the rest of the deal. :happydevil: And, yes, virtually all tennis players with a clothing sponsor would have requirements for wearing and playing. A clothing brand is likely not paying for Egg to “recharge.” :giggle: Only Rogie gets an endorsement from a clothing brand just to license his name and likeness. They don’t care if he plays or not because he’s sexi-Rogie and sells whether he’s styling on the court or not.:love:
Uniqlo signed Roger just so they could say "Ha ha, he's with us and you can't have him". I'm not even joking.
 

TopspintheTerrible

Hall of Fame
At least you're sensible to right-wing propaganda. The cries about "cancel culture" come from people that wanted to boycott Starbucks because they stopped having red cups for Xmas.
There’s a big difference between not supporting a business and demanding somebody gets fired from a tv show, movie or whatever because they expressed an opinion you disagree with.

If a Lacoste customer doesn’t want to buy any more of their products because they sponsor Joker, fair enough. Demanding they drop him is another story.
 
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Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
And Lacoste can define "public interest" and "morality" as they see fit?
I don't think so.

Can be unilateral for the sponsor to determine :happydevil: or have an arbitration clause allowing the player third-party review in determining whether the conduct at issue meets the termination threshold. 8-B
 

big ted

Legend
maybe his lacoste sponsorship will depend on his participation during the clay court season this spring esp the FO
 

Cupcake

Hall of Fame
And Lacoste can define "public interest" and "morality" as they see fit?
I don't think so.
If they want to get rid of him, of course they can. That's how high-priced lawyers earn their high prices.

And if they did drop him (which they may not), I doubt Djokovic would really want a discussion of his transgressions against the "public interest" and "morality". I'm not saying he's done more than we know, but lawyers can bring up and shade things to their side's advantage. And in this case it probably would not be limited to just not being vaccinated, etc. This sort of investigation would be the last thing anyone with numerous endorsements would want. Even something as supposedly innocent as not wearing his mask on the plane leaving Oz would be brought up.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
No, just a loss of income will do, which they will produce evidence of in due time if sales of Lacoste kits flounder due to > 80% of the population hating Djokovic's guts for this sorry saga.

The sales of Lacoste kits floundering because of Djokovic?
Produce evidence??
You are crazy. :-D
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
Can be unilateral for the sponsor to determine :happydevil: or have an arbitration clause allowing the player third-party review in determining whether the conduct at issue meets the termination threshold. 8-B

I don't think you are very well versed in French or Serbian contract law.
 

Cupcake

Hall of Fame
Did Serena lose her sponsorships when she didn't play for more than a year due to pregnancy?

I doubt it. If that would have happened, it would have been a major public relations disaster. Mom and apple pie, and all. She stopped playing because she gave birth - generally recognized as a wholesome thing to do - not because she was deported from a country for questionable behavior, or whatever they called it.
 
He "criminally" went to what "event"?

Not sure of the law in Serbia, but he did admit to doing an interview with L'Equipe while knowing he was positive (plus he told neither the interviewer nor the photographer, plus he took his mask off for the photos). And from the point of view of Lacoste, it probably doesn't matter what Serbian law is. They aren't prosecuting him criminally.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
Not sure of the law in Serbia, but he did admit to doing an interview with L'Equipe while knowing he was positive (plus he told neither the interviewer nor the photographer, plus he took his mask off for the photos). And from the point of view of Lacoste, it probably doesn't matter what Serbian law is. They aren't prosecuting him criminally.

So long as he didn't come too close to those persons no damage will have been done.
Do we know whether the interviewer or the photographer came down with Covid?

Lacoste has an own D.A. office??? :eek:
 
So long as he didn't come too close to those persons no damage will have been done.
Do we know whether the interviewer or the photographer came down with Covid?

Lacoste has an own D.A. office??? :eek:

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on the first sentence. And of course there's a good chance that he never tested Covid-positive.

Not sure I get the relevance of the question. The point is that Lacoste could drop him for committing what would be a criminal offense in France (or wherever they are based) regardless of whether it was a criminal offense in Serbia (or whether it was committed), depending on what the contract says.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
... The point is that Lacoste could drop him for committing what would be a criminal offense in France ...

I don't think so.
Plus Lacoste still wants to earn money in Serbia.
No Serb would ever buy even a headband again if they dropped Djokovic. Lacoste shop in Belgrade would be fire-bombed.
I don't think they would risk it.

BTW, Nike would hire Djokovic in a heartbeat. They have a knack for rebels who don't follow the rules.
 
I don't think so.
Plus Lacoste still wants to earn money in Serbia.
No Serb would ever buy even a headband again if they dropped Djokovic. Lacoste shop in Belgrade would be fire-bombed.
I don't think they would risk it.

BTW, Nike would hire Djokovic in a heartbeat. They have a knack for rebels who don't follow the rules.

Note: I said that they could do it, not that they would do it. Not really interested in the rest.
 
I don't even think they could do it.

Yes, I know you think that: that was what we were arguing about. Not having seen the contract, I can't be sure, but I can tell you 100% for sure that it doesn't matter whether what he did was a criminal offense in Serbia. There are contracts that would allow Lacoste to drop him anyway. Whether the one they have is one such contract, I have no idea.
 
yes agreed. Almost all celebrity/athlete contracts have a morality sort of clause. That way if you do something that can be deemed damaging to the brand they don't have to fulfill the rest of the contract or keep sponsoring you.

Don't know if they will exercise their option to do so but they definitely could based on what happened.

Serena's pregnancy was likely viewed differently even though she wasn't playing it's not a "negative public event" and she still was the top female athlete in the world and spoke as a women't role model as much if not more than before. So win-win. Don't know if they have a clause about how many tournaments she would have to play in her contract. I thinking that would be hard to gauge in the world of sports and unless someone does a Genie Bouchard no one cares for a long while. Nike stayed with Genie for a really long time when she basically doesn't really play tennis much anymore.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
he got the results on the 16th and then went to events 17th and 18th. That’s all confirmed

It is not confirmed that he read his e-mails late in the evening of the 16th.
He said he read it only after the event on the 17th, the one with the kids.
And then, yes, he admitted that he didn't want to skip an interview with the prestigious l'Equipe on the 18th and that he went there. For which he apologized.

He is not a criminal even if the Karens of this world and here in TT want to make him one.
 

FlamingCheeto

Hall of Fame
It is not confirmed that he read his e-mails late in the evening of the 16th.
He said he read it only after the event on the 17th, the one with the kids.
And then, yes, he admitted that he didn't want to skip an interview with the prestigious l'Equipe on the 18th and that he went there. For which he apologized.

He is not a criminal even if the Karens of this world and here in TT want to make him one.
he knew he had covid when he went to the interview, so yes some jurisdictions would call that criminal, or at the very least vile and irresponsible. How long will you defend the indefensable?
 

Adv. Edberg

Legend
It is not confirmed that he read his e-mails late in the evening of the 16th.
He said he read it only after the event on the 17th, the one with the kids.
And then, yes, he admitted that he didn't want to skip an interview with the prestigious l'Equipe on the 18th and that he went there. For which he apologized.

He is not a criminal even if the Karens of this world and here in TT want to make him one.

yeah sure, he didn't check his phone for 24h while he was waiting for the results.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
he knew he had covid when he went to the interview, so yes some jurisdictions would call that criminal, or at the very least vile and irresponsible. How long will you defend the indefensable?

I don't defend that.
In which countries is it a crime what Djokovic did?
It was wrong and dangerous, like speeding with your car.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
I'm about as far away from a conservative as you can get but this is very much cancel culture (removing his sponsorship because of self righteousness/people demanding it). Cancel culture is often done by elitist conservatives anyway, who would probably claim to be against it.

The "company values" thing is a classic defence of cancel culture, along with "He resigned, he didn't get sacked" and my personal favourite "stop trying to cancel cancel culture"

Or...it's because he's making them look bad.

And if he's going to have to sit out the biggest tournaments bc of his vaccine resistance, he's reducing the value of their investment in him.

If he's smart, he'll look for companies who support what he's doing. MyPillow?
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
yeah sure, he didn't check his phone for 24h while he was waiting for the results.

The mail was sent to him very late in the evening.
Obviously he was not expecting to be positive this time (he had tested many times before, always negative).
And not everybody is an internet junkie boy who checks his iPhone every 5 minutes.
 

R. Schweikart

Professional
Or...it's because he's making them look bad.

And if he's going to have to sit out the biggest tournaments bc of his vaccine resistance, he's reducing the value of their investment in him.
....

That is the risk of a company like Lacoste hiring a sports star.
What do you think Nike thought when Serena went bonkers at the USO several times? That was far worse than anything Djokovic has ever done.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
That is the risk of a company like Lacoste hiring a sports star.
What do you think Nike thought when Serena went bonkers at the USO several times? That was far worse than anything Djokovic has ever done.

Was it?

It was very nasty, but it was a one-and-done situation.

This Novak stuff has been an issue for a while, and it isn't just one thing. It's dozens of things at this point.
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
Because you think that his commercial value has improved recently, and that he'll be able to get better endorsements than the ones he currently has?

Why better? Just the same but elsewhere no? But yes, I think his commercial value now is much better than say 2015.

Yes, I think much worse. Novak exposed people knowing he was positive. While many don't believe the pandemic exists, there are many others who know someone who has died or gotten very sick from it, or been sick themselves. Or are staying home, or lost their income... That carries more weight than an athlete that pops a few pills.

Really depends on demographics. I traveled a lot in 2021 unvaccinated and due to business have engaged with many people and my acquaintances stretch into the hundreds. Yes some died but all of them were well above 70 and with other health issues. Now on the other hand there is that notion average tennis viewer age is 53? I'm way below that so I could be out of the loop.

Meanwhile a lot of people have blamed government policy on loss of income. Novak going against the government is more plus to that demographic.
 

skhong248

New User
Lacoste's parent company, Maus Freres, also owns Technifibre. https://maus.ch/en/landmark-brands/

So if he were to get dropped by both Lacoste and Head, you may as well rule out Technifibre as a possible suitor.

Here's some lists of his current sponsors :

Head
Asics
Lacoste
Hublot
Jacob's Creek
ANZ Bank
UKG
Lemero
Montblanc
NetJets
Peugeot

Seems like many French, Swiss and Australian brands there.
UKG is dealing with a massive ransomware attack (https://thestack.technology/kronos-ransomware-attack-ukg-kronos-private-cloud/) and will lose a ton of clients and income stream soon, among lawsuits as well.
Not many sportwear brands here other than New Balance https://www.netaxpayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/consum5.2.pdf
 

flanker2000fr

Hall of Fame
The sales of Lacoste kits floundering because of Djokovic?
Produce evidence??
You are crazy. :-D

Well, they have a specific line for Djokovic, don't they? So they should be able to report if their sales of that line increases / decreases / stay flay year on year.

You're ignorant.
 

flanker2000fr

Hall of Fame
Lacoste's parent company, Maus Freres, also owns Technifibre. https://maus.ch/en/landmark-brands/

So if he were to get dropped by both Lacoste and Head, you may as well rule out Technifibre as a possible suitor.

Here's some lists of his current sponsors :

Head
Asics
Lacoste
Hublot
Jacob's Creek
ANZ Bank
UKG
Lemero
Montblanc
NetJets
Peugeot

Seems like many French, Swiss and Australian brands there.
UKG is dealing with a massive ransomware attack (https://thestack.technology/kronos-ransomware-attack-ukg-kronos-private-cloud/) and will lose a ton of clients and income stream soon, among lawsuits as well.
Not many sportwear brands here other than New Balance https://www.netaxpayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/consum5.2.pdf

Will be very interesting to see what happens to his deal with ANZ, whose HQ is in Melbourne.
 

tommyfr

Rookie
The mail was sent to him very late in the evening.
Obviously he was not expecting to be positive this time (he had tested many times before, always negative).
And not everybody is an internet junkie boy who checks his iPhone every 5 minutes.
And he might check iphone many Times, but if it was sent to his email account, easy to miss. And open email account you dont do all the time, maybe once per day. I think it's more common labs sent to email, not sms text
 

ryushen21

Legend
And Lacoste can define "public interest" and "morality" as they see fit?
I don't think so.
It all depends on how the specific terms of the contract are worded. Morality clauses in contracts leave room for interpretation and suggestion and can be broad enough to include any action/behavior that the company would view as detrimental to their sales or brand reputation.

In this case, there are definite questions and implications of malfeasance on the part of Djokovic and his team and Lacoste would have every right to want to distance themselves from that. Whether or not they are able to outright terminate the contract is one thing. But they definitely don't have to renew him.
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
This is a tough one for me. I'm double vaxxed and was headed to get my booster during Christmas. On the Monday I was going, I woke up and felt like crap. Got tested. Tested positive. Had Covid over the Christmas holidays. It was like the flu; headaches, achy joints, etc. It lasted about 4 days. Consequently I isolated for two weeks. So now my view is, this wasn't a vaccine. A vaccine prevents you from getting the disease like small pox, polio, etc. I'm not sure what this is. But I am done.

As far as Djokovic goes, it's fishy. He said he tested positive a couple of years ago and he isolated then (supposedly). He goes to Australia and they object to his vax status. He says he just had Covid. Apparently he forgot people have cameras everywhere and he is photographed in public and in close proximity to others. I think he was lying about his recent contraction of Covid.

Lacoste? It's their money and they can do with it what they want. Me personally, I find more objection in Nike's behavior withdrawing shoes because a washed up quarterback objected to a tribute shoe to Betsy Ross. So, I haven't bought Nike since. If Lacoste drops or keeps Djokovic it won't affect my view of them as much as Nike's actions.

Djokovic is the epitome of health. He is not in need of the shots. I think this is his decision. And as a reminder, I got my first two as soon as I could. In retrospect, I'd have gotten them again because I am 63 years old and in the vulnerable category. Djokovic is not vulnerable.
 
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