The Battle Between Nike And Adidas Is Still Over.

For who is "the world's first football brand", Nike and Adidas have not yet won the sporting goods giants.

　　 Nike Trevor Edwards, the brand's global president, announced a great victory during a conference call in the World Cup: the number of players wearing Nike in the Brazil world cup is larger than that of other brands in the Trevor Edwards World Cup. However, Adidas pulled back a city on the day of the World Cup finals: the second runner up team was sponsored by it.

And this contest around football is still going on.

In July 14th, Adidas announced a 10 year contract with the Premier League club Manchester United. Adidas will sponsor Manchester United Jersey from the 2015/2016 season, with a total sponsorship fee of 750 million pounds (about 1 billion 260 million US dollars).

The contract, the high sum, has set a new record for football club jerseys sponsorship. The previous record holder is Spanish football club Real Madrid, with sponsorship fee of 31 million per year and sponsorship of Adidas. Compared with the sponsorship fee provided by Nike, the sponsor of the United States, the number of new contracts is more than two times higher than the 23 million 500 thousand annual sponsorship fee. It also announced the end of the 13 year's sponsorship relationship between Manchester United and Nike since 2002. Both Manchester United and Adidas did not comment on the contract for the first financial weekly.

"Sports sponsorship is a seller's market in the field of sportswear brand, and good sports clubs have tremendous influence on sports brands, so they can continuously raise the sponsorship amount." Cui Yingshan, general manager of Beijing orange light Market Consultant Co., Ltd. said to "first financial weekly". Cui Zeng worked in sports marketing company eight party global and Ying Fang Sports Media Co. Ltd. for many years.

　　 enjoy The Premier League in the Premier League is far ahead of the world's football league matches by earning 1 billion 800 million pounds a year. Sporting goods companies have a strong desire for good competitive Premier League teams, which also gives companies a chance to open the door to the football market.

In January this year, Arsenal and Puma signed a sponsorship contract with a total amount of 150 million pounds for 5 years. The annual sponsorship fee went directly to the price of Real Madrid, while Nike's sponsorship fee was 8 million pounds per year.

After Adidas gave up its sponsorship of Liverpool, in 2012, the new warrior sport of new brun signed a sponsorship agreement with it. Before entering the Premier League, warrior sports were famous for their production of hockey and ice hockey equipment.

In the same year, the US sports clothing brand Under Armour also sponsored Tottenham Hotspur. "We didn't know much about it, but everyone knows after sponsoring the Premier League club. And the Premier League has an impact on the growth of Asia and emerging markets. " Cui Yingshan said.

The competition for United's jersey sponsorship started 6 months ago, and warrior sports and Puma also considered bidding. In the end, Adidas paid a "high price" to win the contract. The 11 year contract between Adidas and NBA's 30 teams cost only about 230 million pounds.

Nike, a former sponsor of Manchester United, seems to be too expensive. In fact, doubts about the potential return of the contract also led Nike to withdraw from the competition. It said in a statement: "any partnership with the club must be mutually beneficial, and the terms we are receiving are not in the interests of Nike shareholders."

If we look at the performance of Manchester United last year, Nike is justified. Last year, Manchester United scored the worst performance in nearly 20 years, ranking only seventh in the Premier League, which made it miss the Champions League.

But Manchester United is one of the most popular fans in the world. According to its official figures, it has 659 million fans in 2012, half of whom are in Asia.

The huge fans group means strong purchasing power. In 2013, Manchester United set a record high of 363 million pounds, the highest in the Premier League club, and sponsorship related revenue grew by 44.1% over the same period last year. It has a huge sponsorship team. In addition to its Jersey, its chest ads are Chevrolet, the training venues and equipment sponsors are AON insurance, GM has sponsored shirts, and Wahaha and China Construction Bank have also become sponsors in China since January 15, 2013.

"This cooperation is a milestone event to tap the potential of sales. We expect total sales to reach 1 billion 500 million during the two sides' cooperation. " Herbert Heiner, chief executive of Adidas, said (Herbert Hainer). Adidas not only provides uniforms and peripheral products, but also has the exclusive right to sell products with both brands.

　 Adidas Need Manchester United. In the traditional advantages of soccer, Nike has brought more and more challenges. Adidas expects that in the 2013/2014 fiscal year ending November 2014, soccer related products revenue will reach $2 billion 700 million, which will exceed $2 billion 300 million in the Nike 2013/2014 fiscal year.

But Nike began to enter soccer business in 1994, and Adidas has been in the field of soccer for 66 years. In the past 20 years, Nike has eroded Adidas's share of the football market.

Adidas's "sky high" signing of Manchester United can be seen as a tough return to Nike, especially when the two companies are arguing over who is the world's first football brand.

After giving up the two hot teams of Manchester United and Arsenal, Nike now has only two remaining Premier League sponsorship contracts: Manchester City and queen Park Rangers.

As the world's largest sports company, Nike's move may stem from its own positioning changes. Now, it is more willing to be regarded as a technology company. "When Nike makes such sponsorship, it tends to invest more money in consumer interaction and marketing activities." Cui Yingshan said.

After all, to transform the influence of the team into the sales performance of the brand itself is not just about putting Logo on the Jersey. How to design a Jersey, develop different products for different markets, how to promote market channels, and adopt what kind of advertising marketing methods, all of these have specific market plans.

On the football field, the two sporting goods giants of Adidas and Nike are still far from winning.