National jersey
After over 70 years: DFB abandons Adidas flag
National coach Julian Nagelsmann and the new DFB jersey from Adidas. photo
© Boris Roessler/dpa
Adidas and the German Football Association – until Thursday the connection was considered ironclad thanks to countless shared successes. Shortly before the home European Championships, US rival Nike intervenes.
When Thomas Müller and his colleagues move into their lovely quarters in the “Home Ground” of… Herzogenaurach, the check-in will have a certain bitter note.
The “Home Ground”, a meaningful name for the national team’s quarters on the campus of supplier Adidas, which has already been used for the 2021 European Championship, will soon lose part of its homely feelings for the German Football Association. Adidas, which has been a supplier to the DFB team for over 70 years and has repeatedly hosted the DFB team, will be replaced by the US industry leader Nike. Its CEO John Donahoe, who is under economic pressure, allegedly wants to turn German footballers into “global heroes”.
Changes in supplier are nothing unusual in the sports world – especially when they happen to the industry leader Nike. Years ago, for example, when tennis player Serena Williams was no longer an aspiring teenager but a world star, Nike gave her a contract that the previous supplier Puma had no objection to.
Adidas as the identity of the German national football team
But the marriage between Adidas and the DFB is something special, and not just because of the four World Cup titles won together by the men’s team alone. The pictures in which company founder Adolf Dassler can be seen personally screwing studs into the shoes of German national players are legendary – thus manifesting his very personal part in the “Miracle of Bern” in 1954. From then on, Adidas was essentially part of the identity of the German national football team.
Adidas says it was taken by surprise and was only informed about the signed deal. Nike’s attack against its rival Germany with the active consent of the DFB came from the background, like Helmut Rahn’s legendary shot to make it 3-2 against Hungary. Nike makes twice as much annual sales as Adidas with the equivalent of 47 billion euros, while Puma follows in third place with 8.5 billion euros.
However, in the football business, Adidas is the world market leader ahead of Nike. The Franconians equip the Mexican national team, which is important for the huge North American market, and all 30 teams in the rapidly growing Major League Soccer (MLS), including Inter Miami with Lionel Messi. Nike, on the other hand, had recently behaved more defensively on the football market – Borussia Dortmund, like Manchester City, switched to Puma, FC Barcelona also left the American flag, as did Red Bull Leipzig.
The fact that Nike is now landing and announcing the coup – shortly before the start of the European Football Championship in Germany – is causing anger in Herzogenaurach. Adidas CEO Björn Gulden proudly showed the German footballers’ new tournament jerseys, which had previously been kept secret, on March 12th, and they were officially presented the next day. Just a few days later, Nike boss Donahoe traveled to Germany to sign the deal that had apparently been negotiated for a long time – which raised questions online about timing and style.
Criticism from politics
Even German politicians felt compelled to form a rare alliance in view of the surprising and unpleasant news – Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) criticized the deal in unison.
For Adidas it initially has little economic significance. The German market is not of outstanding importance for the company in terms of revenue; according to Adidas, well over 90 percent of sales are generated abroad. And the DFB jerseys with the three stripes – currently a bestseller at a price of over 100 euros each – will be produced and sold until the end of 2026 – the European Championship, the Olympic Games in which the DFB women take part and the next World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada are still within this time window. There is no direct refinancing of sponsorship funds anyway. The 50 million euros annually for the DFB – the most expensive equipment contract for a sports association in the world – are more profitable for Adidas through brand visibility; jersey sales only recoup a portion of the expenses.
Nevertheless, the news of losing one of the most important figureheads for the national team is a blow to the books – and it comes at the wrong time for Adidas. Gulden, once a professional footballer himself, has a special affinity for round leather. The company, which he took over a good year ago, got into trouble mainly due to experiments in the lifestyle sector, and in 2023 there was even a small loss for the first time in over 30 years. After his experiences with rapper Kanye West’s products, Gulden wants to do more sport again at Adidas – and especially football. He doesn’t just show this when he demonstratively lets the ball dance on his foot for the cameras before the annual press conference.
Nike, which, like its German competitors, has been affected by global economic problems and the uncertainties of the Chinese growth market, has recently had to cope with severe losses on the stock market – and was only able to present its investors with a mixed forecast for the current year. According to media reports, the Americans are now supposed to pay 100 million euros per year for the footballers of the financially and sportingly starved DFB – a questionable undertaking from a commercial perspective given the continued failure of at least the senior national team. “We are grateful to be able to look forward to an economically stable future again as an association thanks to Nike’s commitment,” said DFB treasurer Stephan Grunwald.