The multi-purpose hall at the Porte de la Chapelle metro station in the north of Paris is, along with a swimming pool, the largest new building for the upcoming Olympic Games and the subsequent Summer Paralympics in the French capital. Germany’s largest sporting goods manufacturer secured the naming rights early on, which is why the hall is officially called the “Adidas Arena”. This Thursday, 99 days before the opening of the games, CEO Björn Gulden, 58, flanked by around 80 athletes from several countries, will present the outfits in which a total of nine Olympic teams will appear at the opening and closing ceremonies as well as at award ceremonies become. In addition to the German team, those from Great Britain, Poland and Cuba, among others, are also equipped by Adidas. During their actual competitions, they will wear their personal shoes and the jerseys of the supplier of their respective sports association.
The date will attract attention in the international sports world, and for Gulden it comes at exactly the right time. 16 months after his spectacular move from Puma to Adidas, he repeats what he also did at Puma from time to time: He starts the new year with low forecasts and then raises them over the course of the year. Whatever a little suggests: Look, my work is taking effect and bearing greater fruit than expected. Adidas announced on Tuesday evening that the 2024 financial year would be better than expected. Instead of a mid-single-digit percentage as planned, currency-adjusted sales will grow in the higher single-digit percentage range, i.e. an increase of just under ten percent. And instead of the operating profit previously forecast at around half a billion euros, Adidas is now assuming 700 million euros.
The Samba indoor football shoe is particularly popular
The reason for all of this is that business for the second largest sporting goods manufacturer after the currently weak US company Nike went better than expected in the first three months. The away jersey of the German national soccer team for the upcoming European Championships, which is controversial because of its bright pink color, is almost symbolic of this. But young fans especially like it. A DFB away jersey has never sold better in the first few weeks after its presentation, says an Adidas spokesman. The company does not provide any figures. Just this much: There is also “very good demand” for the Germans’ white home game shirt with the black, red and gold shoulder stripes. The supplier change from Adidas to Nike, which was announced by the DFB immediately after the start of sales after 70 years, obviously has no measurable impact on the current jersey business; it will only take effect from 2027.
Adidas boss Björn Gulden with the shoe that Ethiopian runner Tigist Assefa wore during her Berlin marathon world record last year.
(Photo: Staff/REUTERS)
Adidas boss Gulden is clearly pursuing the plan to bring more football fashion onto the streets and into everyday life. So more shirts, jackets and shoes that are optically developed from football collections. For example, the Samba indoor football shoe, which is currently in demand as sneakers. The concept that Gulden is massively pushing forward also includes retro collections that Adidas sells under its Originals sports fashion category. It recorded particularly good business, which contributed significantly to the success in the first quarter. Compared to the previous year, Adidas increased its currency-adjusted sales by eight percent, or four percent in euros, to 5.458 billion euros. The operating result achieved between January and March was 336 million euros, significantly higher than the previous year’s figure of 60 million.
Business with Yeezy products, Adidas’ long-standing sales and profit generators, is declining. Kanye West is known to have designed the collection of this name. Adidas had owed the eccentric US rapper billions in profits in recent years, but ended its cooperation with him in 2022 after repeated anti-Semitic and sexist outbursts. The sale of leftover Yeezy products bolstered the three-stripes brand’s business to a significant extent last year, even though the company promised to donate a large portion of the proceeds. In the first quarter of 2024, Yeezy shoes generated sales of 150 million euros and a profit of 50 million euros, Adidas said on Tuesday evening. It is assumed “that the sale of the remaining Yeezy stocks will, on average, cover costs over the course of the year,” the company said in a statement. “This would lead to further sales of around 200 million euros over the remainder of 2024 without any additional profit contribution.”