The Real World Cup Winner

As the World Cup draws to an end, one team has already declared itself a clear winner - Team Adidas. For the Germany based company, the 2006 FIFA World Cup has been a great commercial success. According to the latest press release from Adidas:

-> Adidas achieved record breaking sales of 1.2 Billion Euros, up 30% from last year

-> 3 million replica jerseys were sold. This included 1.5 million jerseys of the German national team (Advantages of sponsoring the home team)

-> A staggering 15 million "+Teamgeist" footballs were sold worldwide. Compare this with a total of 6 million units sold of "Fevernova", the official match ball for World Cup 2002. (Perhaps they should rename it to GoldenBall)

-> 1 million pairs of +Predator Absolute football shoes and 750,000 +F50 TUNIT football boots were snapped up by wannabe soccer stars. (Definitely rename it to GoldenBoot)

Adidas is also the official sponsor of Germany, Argentina, France and Spain, all of whom were the top seeds in this year’s fixture.

Arch rival Nike meanwhile seems to be scoring an own goal. Nike shares slipped recently when it announced a weak forecast regarding profit margins for the current quarter. This was attributed to the recent Converse arbitration ruling as well as heavy spending on World Cup Marketing. Demand from US and China (it’s two biggest markets) wasn't enough to offset the spending.

Nike sponsors the Portugal and the perennial favourites, Brazil. Even a Brazilian victory at the World Cup may not be enough to halt Adidas's march. Adidas already has club partnerships with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and will add Chelsea and Liverpool to the list this season. They also have enviable individual deals with Michael Ballack, David Beckham, Raúl, Juan Román Riquelme, Steven Gerrard and Zinédine Zidane, most of whom have probably added members to their fan club with their fine performances over the past month.

With 37% of the European market and a 46% market share in the US, it's no wonder that Adidas is optimistic about the future. "Even before the games end, Adidas is already a clear World Cup winner" Adidas AG CEO and Chairman Herbert Hainer told journalists at the Adidas World Cup Day in Berlin.

A German, declaring themselves to be World Leaders, in Berlin.

Sounds familiar.

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Related Links:
Adidas official Press Release, June 28 2006
Investors sweat Nike's outlook