Adidas celebrates World Cup win and benefits from legend Messi – Economy

Was it a fit of arrogance? Or just a glitch? At least it was premature for the largest sporting goods manufacturer, Nike, to offer the jersey of the French national football team, which it has outfitted, for sale online with three gold stars on the chest as early as Saturday. Just as if the Équipe Tricolore had already won their third world title. The final took place on Sunday. And after the final whistle, not France, but Argentina was world champion, which in turn is boosting business at its outfitter, Nike’s biggest rival, Adidas, enormously. Especially since Lionel Messi, the Argentine captain and superstar, has been under contract with the German three-stripe brand since the beginning of his career.

Recently things had not looked good for Adidas

“We are working flat out to meet the high demand for jerseys and to make additional merchandise available,” said an Adidas spokesman on Monday. As soon as the dramatic finale was over, not only Argentinians ordered their team’s jersey, which rightly adorned a third star for the Albiceleste’s third title win after 1978 and 1986. The new jerseys are “already in production and will be available to all fans worldwide as soon as possible,” said the spokesman, without naming a precise delivery date. “Other Adidas products to celebrate the historic victory are already available.”

It hadn’t looked good for Adidas at this World Cup recently, at least in terms of sport. The company provided the ball, dressed the referees and advertised exclusively in the stadiums (and thus also on television worldwide). However, out of eight quarter-finalists, six wore Nike jerseys and shorts and one team (surprise team Morocco) was kitted out by rivals Puma. The fact that Argentina was the only Adidas team to win the title brightened the mood in the three-stripe world noticeably. Experience has shown that replicas of a world champion jersey are sold in seven-digit numbers. Overall, the World Cup business will bring Adidas sales of 400 million euros this year, most of them in the fourth quarter of 2022. “In the first nine months of 2022, sales in the football sector grew by 30 percent compared to the same period last year,” says spokesman.

World Cup business is doing better than 2018

The company’s German logistics center in Rieste, Lower Saxony, received 10,000 orders for the Argentina jersey with the Messi lettering on the back before the final. At the moment, “work is going on at full speed” there, it says. Qatar debates, Fifa displeasure and frustration about the early failure of the German team or not – for Adidas the World Cup business is better than in 2018. Not only the demand for jerseys is high, but also for the official match ball “Al Rihla”. (in German: the journey) and the “Al Hilm” (German: the dream) specially designed for the semi-finals and the final.

In all of this, history seems to be repeating itself for Adidas. The company has had a bad year, including three profit warnings, large losses in profit and stock market value, problems in China and with US rapper Kanye West, and the departure of CEO Kasper Rorsted. Argentina’s World Cup success not only ensures a happy end to the year, but above all emotionally. It was similar in 2014. At that time, too, the sporting goods manufacturer experienced a year of economic crisis. Right in the middle, Germany became world champion in Adidas jerseys. Incidentally, the fans in this country have not written off the German team. According to Adidas, German national jerseys are still in demand. Especially those with Serge Gnabry’s name on their backs.

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