Nike and adidas go head to head
While most people will be concentrating on the teams taking part in the World Cup final, which takes place on July 11, two companies will be thinking about the impact of the game on their standings within the football arena.
Nike and adidas will feature on the opposing teams’ jerseys, with the Netherlands wearing Nike kits and Spain wearing adidas. Neither team has ever won the World Cup.
According to a report in The Economist, sales of football-related products at Nike rose 39% in the three months to the end of May ahead of the World Cup, while adidas football sales are worth more than €1.5 billion this year, up 25% compared with the last tournament in 2006.
The two firms have been battling hard throughout the competition, with adidas, an official World Cup sponsor, kitting out 12 teams and Nike outfitting 10. Puma provided kit for seven teams, while Legea, Joma and Brooks each outfitted one.
Cologne-based research and consultancy company Sport+Markt executive director, Hartmut Zastrow, told the New York Times in June that adidas was defending its position well and was still “slightly ahead”. However, he said Nike was “pushing aggressively” into football and would continue to do so. According to Nike CEO, Mark Parker, this has been “the biggest and most successful” World Cup in the company’s history”.
