Competition always brings about some unique moves from participants — but there are always some moves that hit a little closer to home. One such move just happened in the rivalry between two sports apparel giants, with Nike swiping away a prized possession of Adidas.
The German Football Association (DFB) announced on March 22 that it will be changing the supplier of all its teams apparel and equipment from the German-based Adidas brand to the U.S.-based Nike (NKE) starting in 2027.
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Nike's deal with DFB, which goes until 2034, ends a over 70-year partnership between Adidas (ADDYY) and its home country's soccer teams.
Ultimately, money was the driver for the DFB abandoning Adidas as the federation said that Nike made "by far the best financial offer."
Reports from German outlets say that Nike is paying around €100 million or about $108 million annually to the DFB, which is double the €50m or $54 million that Adidas is paying.
Adidas responded to the news with a brief statement: "We were informed by the DFB today that the association will have a new supplier from 2027.”
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The move has already been met with dismay from politicians in Germany as the BBC reported that the country's economy minister Robert Habeck wanted "a little bit more local patriotism" and health minister Karl Lauterbach referred to the move as "wrong."
The Nike move masks a bit of the negative results since the company announced a slow outlook for 2024 in its earnings call from March 21. The company's stock fell nearly 7% on Friday and was off 5.8% for the week. It's off 13.5% this year.
Adidas has also been going through its own struggles, including the back and forth between the brand and rapper Ye and his Yeezy line that has loomed large over the company's outlook.
Adidas' American depositary units (which function as a U.S. stock price) were up 0.5% to $108.11 on Friday and are up 6.4% on the year.
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