Adidas Throws Heavy Gold With Nike World Cup

　　2010年南非世界杯戰幕即將拉開，賽場外的競爭也頗為火爆。由于來自耐克的競爭日趨激烈，阿迪達斯不惜拋擲重金贊助，希望藉此保住“世界足球第一品牌”的寶座，而南非世界杯就是這場“防守反擊戰”的PK平臺。 為了保住“足球第一品牌”的寶座，阿迪達斯重金贊助了阿根廷、西班牙、德國和東道主南非等三分之一的世界杯參賽球隊，并贊助本屆世界杯整個賽事。

According to business week, Herbert, chief executive of Adidas, is visiting Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a few months of the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.

At this time, he received an urgent call.

Horst Schmidt, then Secretary General of FIFA, told Haina that Nike is trying to "dig the wall" - seeking to sign a contract with the German national team to become its exclusive sponsor.

And since 1954, the sole sponsor of the German national team has been Adidas.

Haina decided to keep Adidas's status as the world's first football brand, so it doubled the sponsorship fee to 20 million euros / year, defeating Nike's "corner" attempt.

But this is just the beginning.

In the June 11, 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Adidas is not only the exclusive sponsor of the German national team, but also sponsors 1/3 of the teams and the world cup.

Haina explained: "our defense is very beautiful."

For the global sporting goods manufacturer such as Adidas, the world cup is a sacred place.

Football is the most popular sport in the world.

In 2008, sales of soccer products amounted to $10 billion 800 million, and RenaudVaschalde, sports industry analyst at NPDGroup, a market research firm, said RenaudVaschalde would have a bigger breakthrough this year.

According to SPORT%2BMARKT, a German sports market consultancy, Adidas will spend $125 million a year to sponsor FIFA and its top 6 teams.

In order to sell game equipment to 5 top teams, Nike spends $75 million a year for exclusive sponsorship.

As a sponsor of the ten teams, Nike hopes to expand the brand's $1 billion 700 million football business.

In 2008, Adidas's soccer sales amounted to 1 billion 800 million US dollars. In order to block competitors in the field of basketball and race, Adidas had to spend a lot of money.

Christopher Schwarzeja, a sporting goods analyst at SusquehannaFinancialGroup, said: "in order to stay ahead of the football industry, they will do everything in their power". (ChristopherSvezia)

Germany's advance to the finals will double the sales of Adidas's uniforms ($88 / piece) to 1 million.

If Nike's sponsorship of Portuguese team is strong, it will turn its opponent in the opposite direction.

"Of course there are challenges here, and this is the charm of sports."

Charles Denson, President of Nike brand, said CharlesD.Denson.

As a result, Adidas has signed up to become a sponsor of the world cup as a hedge.

Haina is making every effort to defend the historical tradition that Adidas has passed since 1954. At that time, Adidas's founder, AdiDassler, sponsored the first football shoes to the German national team. That year, the Germans finally won the world cup.

"Football, of course, is our heart and soul," Haina said.

Sports equipment sales between Adidas and Nike will also be launched during the world cup.