Venezia literally kicked off their season in style on Sunday as they took to the pitch in their new 2024-25 home jersey, designed by Nocta, the Nike subsidiary co-created and fronted by rap superstar Drake.
Drake has been confirmed to have become an investor in the newly promoted Serie A club after joining the ranks of global sports-focused firm APEX Capital. It was also announced that the Canadian rapper will sponsor the club's kits for the 2024-25 season through Nocta.
After a whirlwind week at managerial level, Venezia began their league campaign against Lazio in Rome on Sunday night with a 3-1 defeat and shocked fans by doing so in their new Drake-sponsored shirt ahead of the release of any official images or launch material.
Shortly after news of Drake's involvement broke, Nocta formally took over as Venezia's official equipment supplier last week after an agreement was reached between the two parties.
The club had previously had its kits supplied by Kappa, who took the reins in 2021 and proceeded to transform the Winged Lions into one of the most stylish clubs in European football through a series of incredibly chic outfits created in collaboration with New York-based graphic design studio Bureau Borsche. Venezia then further sealed its couture credentials by launching its kits with haute couture photoshoots staged against some of Venice’s most glamorous vistas – from historic canals, cathedrals and bridges to the idyllic lagoons surrounding the ancient city.
However, Venezia's highly productive deal with Kappa came to an end over the summer, leaving the club preparing for life in Italy's top flight by playing friendlies in plain, unbranded shirts without sponsors.
When the new deal with Nocta was given the green light, the Nike sub-brand hastily applied its three-pointed logo to those same generic kits in time for Venezia’s Coppa Italia match against Brescia, thereby creating a sort of “special edition” white stripe as it continued to put the finishing touches on Venezia’s new 2024-25 range.
With no official launch yet taking place, Venezia emerged from the Stadio Olimpico tunnel wearing their new Nocta home shirt, revealing it to the viewing world for the first time.
As you can see, the shirt retains the Venetian club's traditional colours of black, green and orange, while the main body also features a faint rounded diamond graphic (which looks like it's lifted from Nocta's 'trident' branding). The graphic is also unusual in that it appears to only extend halfway down the torso.
A simple black button-down collar replaces last year's gold version, and orange and green are used to finish things off, including a two-tone cuff and side panels that run from under the arm to the bottom hem.
It's certainly a nice design to look at, but how does Venezia's new Nocta 2024-25 home kit compare to the best Kappa had to offer the club? We'll happily let you be the judge of that.
