Conflict between Adidas and Nike

2015 is the year of sports because there is no World Cup and there is no Olympic Games. At the same time, it is also a sports year because there are also other exciting events outside the stadium. We say that 2015 is the first year of the Chinese sports industry. There have been too many ups and downs in the Chinese sports circle in this year. The copyright of the event has been slaughtered, big companies are fighting together, and policy dividends have come. In fact, there are too many stories to ponder in the world's sports ecosystem.

Adidas and Nike are like a pair of conjoined babies in the world sports field, and no one can escape from the opponent's independence. The competition between them has formed the pole of the world sports. In this particular ecosystem, the two have performed together to embody different levels of grudges and enmities. The past year was a special year for both brands, and their many positive encounters made the seemingly ordinary 2015 alive.

The story also begins with China. The origin of the cooperation between Adidas and the Chinese Football Team dates back to the 1980s. Together, the two sides walked through more than 30 years. Each cooperation cycle keeps pace with the World Cup. Although the Chinese men's soccer team only had a World Cup experience in 2002, due to the high influence of football in China, the cooperative relationship between the two parties can be maintained happily and smoothly. In the Brazilian World Cup cycle, Adidas will provide the Chinese team with more than 100 million yuan in sponsorship fees each year. When China's men's soccer team exited the world preliminaries early in 2011, Adidas vacillated its belief in the investment of the Chinese team. This led to the idea of ​​reducing sponsorship fees. This undoubtedly has huge differences with the Football Association’s expectations.

At the beginning of this year, all the dust settled. The old couple of adidas and Chinese football finally came to an end and replaced it with old rival Nike. This is a new decade. The first major test after the two sides held hands was the Asian Cup in Australia. The National Football Team's performance in the group matches was beyond anyone's expectation. The three-game victory, the game scene is to let the fans exclaim. Although the next knockout failed to go further, the result was enough to make Nike smile.

However, honeymoon is always short-lived. In the World Cup qualifiers, the national football performance has begun to fluctuate. Although it has not been determined to be eliminated, it is difficult to make it to the top 12. In the first year of the cooperation between Nike and the Chinese team, the expression in one word is to go high and low, but the future road is still very long. Recently, the Chinese Football Association expressed its desire to host the 2023 Asian Cup, which is undoubtedly a good news for the development of Chinese football. Will the national football team of Nike consider Nike worth the money? Did Adidas regret the decision to give up the national football? This only left time for answers.

Lost in the East, the mulberry harvest. With the National Football Club, Adidas still regained one spot in European football. The Red Devils Manchester United have worked with Nike for 13 years, but in the summer of 2015, the two sides still broke up, mainly because of the high price demanded by Manchester United and the stringent revenue sharing requirements. On this occasion, Adidas was killed and accepted Manchester United’s £75 million annual sponsorship fee requirement. This figure is indeed amazing, more than doubled the Adidas and Real Madrid shirt sponsorship contract. And this also directly raises the sponsorship price of the European giants jersey. Imagine that until Real Madrid, Chelsea's contract expires, what price should Adidas use to retain them?

Adidas’ replacement of Nike’s takeover of Manchester United can be considered strategically significant. However, six months later, Manchester United's performance on the court will not make Adidas happy. In the Champions League group game, the league ended with a victorious six rounds as the 2015 finals. Now that the Red Devils are mentioned, people are only concerned about when the coach, Van Gaal, will leave the class. This is definitely the most unwilling situation for Adidas. However, Manchester United is still the United States in the end, it is a matter of time to restore their proper competitiveness, and last year, Manchester United sold only 2 million light jerseys, and its market appeal is still strong.

If the temporary turbulence of Manchester United is not enough to make Adi worry too much, then another major event in 2015 must make it depressed. More than six months have passed since the FIFA corruption incident began. During this period, FIFA’s image and reputation have fallen to the bottom, and many sponsors have withdrawn. Although Blatter and Platini have already been sentenced to eight years in prison, this turmoil is far from over, and Adidas, the world's top partner of FIFA, is naturally disillusioned. In any case, FIFA still holds the World Cup. This is the biggest stack that Adidas can't let go. In the face of the dilemma of FIFA, Adidas can only swallow it.

On the basketball court, Adidas announced this year that it will soon lose an ally who has cooperated for many years. That is the NBA. In June, Nike and the NBA announced that they formally joined hands to form global authorized merchandise and marketing partners. From a total of eight years beginning in the 2017-18 season, Nike will become the official NBA apparel supplier.

As early as 2006, Adidas spent $400 million to sign an 11-year cooperation agreement with the NBA. However, as a clothing supplier, their own brand Logo can not appear in the players' shirts, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of publicity. On the shoes, his own spokesperson Rose, Wal-Mart and Nike camp James, Durant and others are completely out of one magnitude.

It should be pointed out that the new agreement makes Nike the first clothing partner with the brand Logo on the NBA field jersey, which is also a heavy blow to Adidas. After Adidas has lost ground in the North American market after losing the NBA backing, the right to speak will be severely reduced.

Seeing the NBA market will be annihilated by Nike, Adidas also responded in a timely manner, this time it locked the rocket star Hardon. The Rockets reached the Western Conference finals under Harden's leadership last season, and Harden’s personal ability has also been widely recognized in the industry. Although still relatively thin compared with Nike, it can be regarded as a symbolic event for Adi's new star strategy. However, after entering the new season, Harden and the Rockets have been lost together and could not find the team that entered the Western Conference finals last season. Two months have passed since the new season. After experiencing rocket fluctuations, Harden himself has been plagued by more offensive life and has not been able to achieve stable performance at the MVP level. This year may be more bitter for Adidas in the NBA market.

Nike also made moves at the end of the year and signed a lifetime contract with star James. James's commercial value does not have to be rumored. Last year's sales of personal footwear reached $340 million, far exceeding the Durant of the same door, and this year it is expected to reach $400 million. Although it is already over thirty years, but for the current alliance of this star is scarce, locking James to ensure that he is invincible.

In 2015, Adidas and Nike's infighting from the basketball to football, extending from North America to the world. It is impossible to judge who wins or who wins, but both have produced a good transcript. Adidas’ profit rose by 7.6% in the first three quarters and net sales rose by 16.7%, while Nike’s stock price rose by 37% in 2015. This year, Adidas may be a little upset, and Nike is steadily expanding, and there is no end to the contest between the two sides. In 2016, the European Cup and the Olympic Games have come on one after another. The battlefield behind the stadium will also write more stories.