Nike vs. Adidas – To Swoosh Or To Climb?
- Updated: August 4, 2015
(Photo via Twitter User @LakerfanDiehard)
The battle is on, and no I’m not talking about the usual team v. team fight that we usually discuss here. It’s Nike vs. well, every other athletic brand on the market. (P.S. The Adidas logo is supposed to be a mountain…)
Let’s state the facts before we get too far into this. The Lakers newest show piece, D’Angelo Russell, has joined Karl-Anthony Towns in signing a deal with Nike.
Welcome to the Nike Family @Dloading and @KarlTowns pic.twitter.com/0FtunELCjJ
— Heidi Burgett (@heidiburgett) August 3, 2015
That wasn’t the end of the signings of draft picks though. Adidas countered 13 minutes later by announcing Justise Winslow and Kelly Oubre Jr. have been given their own shoe deals. FUN FACT: Oubre’s Wizards’ teammate, John Wall, is also an Adidas guy. Are these two events related??
Let’s get into this. Nike were able to pick up were Adidas left off by winning the licensing NBA deal which Adidas chose not to renew. Many would say that this is no big deal, because as we all know, Nike is home to many, many, basketball players, shoe deals, and they have the biggest piece of the pie when it comes to the basketball shoe market.
The athletic market is being split into what I would like to call the Sponsorship Trifecta; Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour.
Adidas have been the silent killer recently, and if you haven’t been paying attention you probably missed some of their best moves. Yesterday a story took over the Internet that reported Adidas has offered James Harden a $200 million deal to entice him to leave the swoosh. How were they able to offer him so much money? My guess would be they are going to use the money that was previously tied up in the NBA licensing deal to land some big names. And yes, this is a very, very, smart move on their part. Think about this. Which has more influence? Every event sponsored by a small logo or one of the most dominant athletes in the game constantly being talked about on TV, Twitter, etc. wearing your products, which leads to others wearing your products and so on and so forth?
Go with me for a second. I am what a few have called an “overly-emotional” Manchester United fan, and I can’t disagree. They are one of the most popular teams in the WORLD, and you can just imagine how many sponsorship offers they are getting daily. For the 2015-16 season, the Red Devils will officially be an Adidas team, meaning all of the Nike gear, stadium seats, scarfs, what have you of last year, has been metaphorically burned. This deal with Adidas is worth £750 million, which is a lot of $$$., over 10 years, it breaks all kinds of records. The kicker is that they took over the areas that Nike failed.
So Adidas has landed the biggest team in the world, for a theoretical 10 years. One point for Adidas, minus one for Nike.
Under Armour is another interesting operation because they are heavily trying to gain some of the market share in the athletic world. See: Stephen Curry, Memphis Depay (Sorry, Manchester United fan coming out again), Misty Copeland, Tom Brady, and Bryce Harper to name a few. Under Armour have also joined the brick and mortar world’s that used to be solely for the big-wigs Nike and Adidas. This is a big step for the company, and my guess is that you will see them becoming very dominant in the years to come.
Below is a breakdown of the basketball athletes currently under Nike and Adidas contracts:
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Chris Bosh- Elton Brand
- Kobe Bryant
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
- DeMarre Carroll
- Vince Carter
- Michael Carter-Williams
- Wilson Chandler
- Tyson Chandler
- Norris Cole
- Nick Collison
- Jae Crowder
- Dante Cunningham
- Anthony Davis
- Ed Davis
- Glen Davis
- Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
- Kevin Durant
- Wayne Ellington
- Tyreke Evans
- Landry Fields
- Randy Foye
- Channing Frye
- Rudy Gay
- Paul George
- Danny Granger
- Danny Green
- Draymond Green
- Tyler Hansbrough
- James Harden
- Tobias Harris
- Spencer Hawes
- Gordon Hayward
- Brendan Haywood
- JJ Hickson
- Kirk Hinrich
- Kris Humphries
- Andre Iguodala
- Kyrie Irving
- Reggie Jackson
- LeBron James
- Al Jefferson
- Richard Jefferson
- James Jones
- DeAndre Jordan
- Ryan Kelly
- Shane Larkin
- Ty Lawson
- John Lucas III
- Shawn Marion
- Wesley Matthews
- Jason Maxiell
- O. J. Mayo
- Josh McRoberts
- Paul Millsap
- Nazr Mohammed
- Greg Monroe
- Jameer Nelson
- Patrick Patterson
- Paul Pierce
- Ronnie Price
- Tayshaun Prince
- J. J. Redick
- Luke Ridnour
- Thomas Robinson
- Brandon Rush
- Mike Scott
- Henry Sims
- Jason Smith
- J. R. Smith
- Amar’e Stoudemire
- Marcus Thornton
- Ekpe Udoh
- Dion Waiters
- Deron Williams
- Derrick Williams
- Brandan Wright
- Nick Young
- Thaddeus Young
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- Derrick Favors
- Derrick Rose
- Devin Harris
- Eric Gordon
- Harrison Barnes
- Iman Shumpert
- James Anderson
- Jeff Teague
- Jerryd Bayless
- Jeremy Lin
- Joel Embiid
- John Salmons
- John Wall
- Josh Smith
- Kenneth Faried
- Marquis Teague
- MarShon Brooks
- Marcus Smart
- Matt Barnes
- Matt Bonner
- Mike Conley, Jr.
- Patrick Beverley
- Perry Jones III
- Peyton Siva
- Quincy Acy
- Reggie Evans
- Robin Lopez
- Rodney Stuckey
- Ryan Gomes
- Sebastian Telfair
- Shabazz Muhammad
- Taj Gibson
- Tim Duncan
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
- Tony Allen
- Tony Snell
- Tyshawn Taylor
- Tyler Zeller
In comparison Nike obviously has a lot more athletes signed, but Adidas are hot on their heels. Don’t count Adidas out just yet! Their marketing team is on point and ready to take back some of what makes Nike so dominant.
What do you think? Do they have a fight on their hands or is this still Nike’s world, and we’re all just living in it? Let me know!
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