Adidas has always been a major soccer brand and they’ve “survived” because they make quality gear, not just pure luck. David Beckham signed a lifetime contract with Adidas.
FWIW, Adidas actually did sign Kobe from 1996-2002 (when he was drafted); however, he later paid them 8 million to get out of the deal. Nike will always be the go-to shoe brand for the NBA.
I will never own a pair of Nike soccer cleats because they’re too **** narrow.
Nike just has way more $$$$ and spent it wisely. In 1996, they paid Brazil a ton of money ($200m reportedly) for a 10-year contract which was the most lucrative deal at the time between a national team and a brand. Takes $ to make $!
Brazil has renewed ever since and the contract comes to an end in 2026. IMO, it was a very smart move and great investment for Nike to pay one of the best and most recognizable soccer teams in the world. If you’re going to get into the soccer market, pay the best to wear your stuff.
Nike is definitely the biggest brand in the world and in North America (NFL and NBA) where Adidas are the biggest in Europe (soccer).
Adidas has always been a major soccer brand and they’ve “survived” because they make quality gear, not just pure luck. David Beckham signed a lifetime contract with Adidas.
FWIW, Adidas actually did sign Kobe from 1996-2002 (when he was drafted); however, he later paid them 8 million to get out of the deal. Nike will always be the go-to shoe brand for the NBA.
I will never own a pair of Nike soccer cleats because they’re too **** narrow.
Nike just has way more $$$$ and spent it wisely. In 1996, they paid Brazil a ton of money ($200m reportedly) for a 10-year contract which was the most lucrative deal at the time between a national team and a brand. Takes $ to make $!
Brazil has renewed ever since and the contract comes to an end in 2026. IMO, it was a very smart move and great investment for Nike to pay one of the best and most recognizable soccer teams in the world. If you’re going to get into the soccer market, pay the best to wear your stuff.
Nike is definitely the biggest brand in the world and in North America (NFL and NBA) where Adidas are the biggest in Europe (soccer).
I’m not questioning adidas’ quality of soccer cleats or quality of gear. I’m questioning they’re approach and commitment to endorsing athletes compared to Nike.
Maybe you can break down the revenue share of soccer cleats by region.
But Nike was never a major player in soccer before the 94 World Cup. They did have Aston Villa signed in the 80’s I believe and also made shoes for Ian Rush. Did they make soccer cleats? Yes. But they did not sell anywhere near what diadora, lotto, or puma did and adidas dominated the market.
Nike used the 94 World Cup as a launch point and hasn’t looked back since.
Nike learned a lot by signing MJ and used that model to continue to take over market share in every sport they touched.
And that’s my only argument. They’re just not as aggressive as adidas and lose battles for players all the time.
Nobody talks about how Nike actually lost Messi cause they ****ed off his dad allegedly.
But Barcelona has been a Nike team forever and Messi actually wore Nike until adidas pulled him away. He actually pulled a Rashada and left Nike hanging by not showing up to a photo shoot.
Could you imagine a world where Messi Neymar, Ronaldo, and all the other best players only wear Nike, and that’s what I mean by survive
So no they wouldn’t have gone bankrupt, but they were losing market share to Nike in all sports especially soccer.
In just athletic wear in general Nike sells more worldwide than both puma and adidas combined. And despite that they’re still hyper aggressive with marketing and signing players.
Kanye alone gave them an extra 2 billion in sales.
Adidas didn’t even know why their sales jumped dramatically in the early 80’s until they figured out that run dmc boosted their sales. They signed them for 1 million $.
And that’s my issue.
Adidas a worldwide quality brand just let Nike come into soccer and Europe and yanked them out their spot.
Kobe paid them to get out of his contract?!
You said that basketball players will always be attracted to Nike. But that was never the case.
Jordan literally said he would never wear Nike and basketball was not Nike’s playground. Basketball was dominated by converse who had both Bird and Magic signed.
Adidas has lost market share to Nike because of aggressive marketing and money they made by knowing that people will wear what their favorite team and player wears.
So my question again is how dedicated and focused are they to retain clients and make inroads into sports; especially college football were every **** year the playoffs are represented by at least 3 nike schools and most years it’s all four.