Habeck misses “location patriotism” in the Adidas phase-out
After more than 70 years – Nike beats Adidas for the national football team
A turning point for the national team: The German Football Association is letting the contract with long-term partner Adidas expire and will be equipped by Nike from 2027. The DFB justified the surprising decision, among other things, by saying that Nike had made by far the best economic offer.
Many fans reacted with surprise, including the Federal Minister of Economics: The German national soccer team will soon be equipped by the US company Nike and no longer by Adidas. For Robert Habeck a “hardly imaginable” change. Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not want to take a position.
bFederal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck has criticized the change of supplier at the German Football Association from long-time partner Adidas to Nike. “I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes. For me, Adidas and black-red-gold always belonged together. A piece of German identity. “I would have liked a bit more local patriotism,” said Habeck. The traditional German company is based in Herzogenaurach and busy according to their own statements over 59,000 employees (as of 2022).
Habeck’s statement is also surprising, as the Vice Chancellor has not attracted attention with patriotic statements in the past. Opponents of the Green party repeatedly spread a quote from his book “Patriotism – A Left Plea,” which was published in 2010. “I always found patriotism sickening,” it says. “I never knew what to do with Germany and still don’t know today.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not want to comment on the change of supplier. “The Chancellor says: This is an autonomous decision of the German Football Association,” said deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner on Friday in Berlin.
Another cabinet member, Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, made his comments. “Adidas should no longer be the national jersey in football? A US company instead? I think it’s a wrong decision where commerce is destroying a tradition and a piece of home,” wrote the SPD politician on X, the former Twitter. The CSU Bundestag member Dorothee Bär also described it on X as “a merciless wrong decision”.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) also commented on Twitter. He recalled the 1954 World Cup victory, which gave the country self-confidence again. “That’s why it’s wrong, a shame and also incomprehensible that this story should end now.” German football shouldn’t be a “plaything in international corporate battles,” said Söder and recommended that the DFB be more straightforward.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz accused the DFB of lacking patriotism. “This is a decision that is completely incomprehensible to me,” said the opposition leader in Berlin. “And I have to say honestly: it is also unpatriotic.” Of course, the DFB also has to work economically. But there are also other considerations for him to vote on, said Merz.
Baden-Württemberg’s Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz could not understand the criticism. “Adidas has been outfitting teams around the world for years,” he wrote on X. “But if globalization goes in the other direction in Germany as an export country, then should the market economy give way in favor of ‘homeland and identity’?” He doesn’t want a culture war over the national jersey.
On Thursday, the DFB announced that the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike will equip all German national teams from 2027. This marks the end of a partnership with Adidas that has lasted more than 70 years. Adidas was the supplier for all four World Cup titles and all three European Championship titles for men as well as for the two World Cup titles and the eight European Championship trophies for women. The collaboration with Nike is initially scheduled to run until 2034. The decision against Adidas and in favor of Nike is obviously also driven by economic considerations.
Does Nike pay more than 100 million a year?
According to information from “Handelsblatt”, the US sporting goods manufacturer wants the deal to cost more than 100 million euros per year from 2027. This is said to have become known from industry circles, as the paper reports. This would mean that Nike would far exceed the previous contract amount of the current supplier Adidas.
The German Football Association defended its future change of supplier. “We understand every emotionality. It is also a drastic event for us as an association when it becomes clear that a partnership that was and is characterized by many special moments is coming to an end after more than 70 years. That doesn’t leave us indifferent,” wrote the DFB on X, formerly Twitter.
However, the DFB is “first and foremost committed to German football and its development,” it continued, justifying the decision with economic considerations: “The DFB has a unique selling point: it is a sports association that finances its member associations and the base in the amateur sector is not financed by them. He puts the money into football. So that football remains a popular sport.”