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KIPSTA unveils the official balls of the Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT for the 2022-2023 season
KIPSTA and the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) reveal the new collection of official Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT balls that will be used on the pitch for the 2022-2023 season. By becoming the official supplier of the official Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT balls, KIPSTA demonstrates its technical know-how and expertise at the highest levels of French football.
The new official ball of Ligue 1 Uber Eats will make its first appearance at the Champions Trophy between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Nantes on 31 July, while the official ball of Ligue 2 BKT will make its debut on the first day of the league on the weekend of 30th July.
The demands of the top level at the heart of product development
Professional players, the brand's ambassadors on the pitch, wear the cleats or goalkeeper's gloves during their matches in official competitions. This is an opportunity to test KIPSTA products at the highest level and for the brand to demonstrate its expertise, to make further progress and thus to continue to offer the best range of products, accessible to all. Throughout the year, in order to accompany KIPSTA in its continuous progress, these ambassadors exchange ideas, participate in workshops and propose improvements which are listened to, analyzed and implemented on the different prototypes. In its desire to make football accessible to all, the same products are offered to all players, whether they are professionals or amateurs.
FIFA QUALITY PRO
Labeled balls
since 2016
All KIPSTA products have been designed, created and tested in France since 1998. The brand's "top of the range" balls have the FIFA QUALITY PRO label. By launching the development of an offer exclusively dedicated to football, KIPSTA has chosen to mainly focus on two products: shoes and balls.
As early as 2016, the brand developed its expertise by offffering FIFA PRO standard balls. Four years later, following the consultation launched in March 2021, the LFP's Board of Directors appointed KIPSTA, the Decathlon Group's football brand, as the supplier of the official balls for Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT for five years, from 2022 to 2027.
A graphic design with multiple evocations
The graphic design for these balls combines technicality and sobriety. The graphic details combine different notions common to KIPSTA and the Ligue de Football Professionnel.
For the Ligue 1 Uber Eats ball, two strong values stand out in the graphic design: intensity and rivalry. Emblematic of this collective sport, the fervor that emanates from the greatest rivalries is represented on each side of the ball by some of the legendary clashes that have written the history of the championship
As a tribute to the 90th anniversary of the French football championship in 2023, all of the historic clubs that have won the 19 first division championships since its creation are mentioned. Lyon, Marseille, Paris and Saint-Etienne, as well as Lens and Lille, face each other on the different panels.
The choice of colors - blue, white and red - reminds us that for the first time, a French company will supply the balls for the French football elite.
The design of the Ligue 2 BKT ball offers a more graphic style reflecting the constant and permanent evolution of football in fashion and trends. From the tip of Finistère to the Isle of Beauty (Corsica), from the Aquitaine region to the lines of the Grand Est, the ball honors the landforms and borders of the French territory.
Balls at the cutting edge of technology
The technology used for the Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT balls is thermobonding (a ball with no stitching). The balls offer a strengthened playing sensation thanks to the textured microfiber component, accompanied by foams and grooves. The balls are designed exclusively by KIPSTA and feature high trajectory stability.
In addition to the normative tests, the KIPSTA Certification Unit, composed of field test engineers, also carries out in-use tests to design and objectively compare the performance of the balls via :
- Specific protocols and tests related to the use of the products,
- The recruitment of qualified testers to evaluate the functions of the products,
- Analysis of the results, using statistical tools.
These tests cover general aspects, such as durability, resistance and sustainable inflation, as well as five functions reflecting the technical nature of the ball.
Practical information:
Available in the DECATHLON network from May 2022
Technical
characteristics
Bladder:
The bladder is a "High Rebound Advanced" bladder to which polyester fabric panels are glued for optimum sphericity, pressure resistance and rebound quality.
Paneling:
The ball is made up of 12 textured panels in microfibre Polyurethane (PU) combined with a POE foam (Polyolefin Elastomer) to meet the highest technical requirements.
Manufacturing process:
The 12 panels are heat-bonded, for better sphericity and resistance. The grooves on the outer surface guarantee excellent tracking stability.
ABOUT KIPSTA :
A brand for all team sports from the DECATHLON group, KIPSTA has specialized in the design of football products since 2016. Based in the North of France, the brand's mission is to improve the daily life of all footballers in a sustainable way. KIPSTA is committed to excellence, providing its users with high-performance products, including at the highest level and at the most accessible price possible.
ABOUT KIPSTA :
DECATHLON is a leading company in the sports market, combining two activities: designing technical products, providing innovative services and offering them online and in shops. With 324 points of sale in France and more than 1,700 internationally, DECATHLON and its 105,000 team members have been working since 1976 with a constant ambition: to innovate for sport as a whole and take it to places where it is not yet.
ABOUT LIGUE DE FOOTBALL PROFESSIONNEL :
Ligue de Football Professionnel regulates French professional soccer. Therefore, LFP organizes and manages 5 competitions : Ligue 1 Uber Eats®, Ligue 2 BKT®, Trophée des Champions®, EA Ligue 1 Games et eLigue 1®. LFP funds any operation or action designed to support and promote professional soccer.
Ligue de Football Professionnel is the first promoter for live performances and shows in France, with more than 800 games per season and more than 10.4 million spectators (among which 7.9 for Ligue 1 Uber Eats®, 2.5 for Ligue 2 BKT®). Ligue 1 Uber Eats® is broadcast by 63 broadcasters in 219 territories and 47 languages. French professional soccer is the first sport followed by media and has a strong geographic coverage in the heart of 40 out of the 50 biggest cities in France. 80% of French people live less than 50km from a Ligue 1 Uber Eats® or Ligue 2 BKT® stadium.
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Contact
DECATHLON UNITED PR
international.media@decathlon.com