Spain catapulted itself to a 1-0 win in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey after outlasting Argentina, but Adidas, one of the tournament’s lead sponsors came away with a victory of its own after topping sales estimates tied to the tournament.
The German sportswear maker reported a $1.7 billion windfall of jersey, merchandise and ball sales on Saturday, easily surpassing its $1.1 billion goal.
“In total, we expect event-related sales of around €1.5 billion, which also includes football-inspired streetwear that is in high demand everywhere,” Adidas CEO Bjoern Gulden said in a statement on the eve of the final. “Seeing two teams, and the referees, in three stripes in the final is more than we could have wished for.”
Adidas outfitted 14 teams (Argentina, Germany, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Colombia, Belgium, Sweden, Scotland, South Africa, Algeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Curaçao) and had the fortunate of drawing the two clubs that would ultimately play for the FIFA World Cup trophy.
And while the company put its projections at just over $1 billion, it saw four times as many jersey and double the ball sales over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which raked in $424 million for the brand.
There is a dedicated World Cup section on the company’s website with a deep range of products for all 14 sponsored teams across jersey, balls, lifestyle, footwear and accessory categories.
But in the battle of the top brands of the tournament, regardless of whether they were an official sponsor, Adidas has likely taken the win at the retail level after knowing it would come out on top with both teams — and referees — sporting its logo in the final.
Meanwhile, Nike supplied 12 teams (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, England, France, The Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Turkey, United States and Uruguay) as the company’s 12 weeks of soccer-specific activations and programming are aimed to go beyond a single advertising campaign. The company has not yet released any tournament related sales figured.
Puma produced kits for 11 teams, while Kelme took on Jordan and Bosnia, as smaller and boutique brands had one team each (Capelli Sport, Umbro, Marathon, Saeta, Merooj, Jako, Reebok, Kappa and 7Saber).
The final tally of World Cup related sales for Adidas is likely to rise following Spain’s 1-0 win, with strong selling jerseys by Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Ferran Torres likely to get further boost.
