What scarecrow? These are your words;
“Despite Nike spending way more on marketing, Adidas showing once again it's the more preferred brand right now. Adidas selling more World Cup gear.”
You’re arguing on a Miami hurricanes CFB board about adidas over Nike saying adidas is the preferred brand “selling more World Cup gear.” Nobody cares about soccer when it comes to CFB and quite frankly, we just saw Nike refuse to help Ohio state with nil to land a player. If adidas is willing to help us buy players in a similar situation where Nike won’t then literally just about everyone here would go with adidas.
1. Once again Shadow Realm is wrong. Adidas spends between $70-$100m, alone, for exclusive advertising rights. The WC video Adidas shot was estimated to be around $67m.
•29% of this yrs WC teams were sponsored by Adidas
•25% of this yrs WC teams were sponsored by Nike
•23% of this yrs WC teams were sponsored by Puma
•23% of this yrs WC teams were sponsored by others, combined (Marathon, Umbro, Reebok, etc.)
Nike’s advertising budget for the WC was substantially less b/c of restrictions, but there’s two things they did to steal the spotlight:
•Rip The Script
•Toma
The Rip Script commercial turned interest upside down. Haaland became the new darling, Ronaldo reinvigorated The GOAT talk, & Mbappe is now being labeled as the greatest WC player in history.
Toma is a street tourney specifically for the next generation. Nike used Toma to generate its next star, & it was literally a party in the street w live performances, street style soccer matches, w kids fight for NIL deals. This all took place with the WC going on. Results? Nike increased its kit sales by 2.5x this same time compared to the 2022 WC.
2. Adidas sales = Messi & Mexico. Messi individual jerseys r by far #1, & Mexico was the #1 country seller. Even Adidas was surprised by Mexico, but it helped that they were considered home country.
3. Just came back from Vegas for Summer Pro League. Unbeknownst to me Nike’s EYBL tourney was being held at the same time. Let’s just say between the long lines at Nike outlets compared to Adidas, & every single kid rocking the newest shoes that haven’t touch stores, + the newest mind slides, Nike is doing just fine w the next generation.
4. Just to lay this topic of running, futbol, & blah blah to rest: just a quick excerpt from The Finance Guys:
Management believes that these investments are already producing encouraging signs. NIKE Running has delivered five consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, adding roughly $1 billion in revenues over that period, while wholesale revenues increased 4% in fiscal 2026, led by double-digit growth in North America. The company's football-focused World Cup campaign generated 1.5 billion views across digital platforms, with Mercurial becoming the fastest-selling 24-hour launch for cleated footwear in NIKE Direct history.
-From 07/13/2026