EURO 2020 is taking place excitingly as the national team competes to choose a single king of European football. However, off the field, there is also a very fierce battle between sponsors, to determine which brand is the most popular, especially between Nike and Adidas.
EURO 2020 also witnessed that competition, specifically how?
The dominance of Nike and Adidas
Both Nike and Adidas have chosen to sponsor the “Elite” teams - the top teams of the EURO. This strategy is not only applied at EURO, but has become the motto of both sports companies.
Some of the big teams sponsored by Nike:
- Brother
- France
- Portugal
- Croatia
Adidas is also not to be outdone, when it comes to sponsoring quite a few other giants:
- Virtue
- Spain
- Belgium
Including EURO 2020, Nike and Adidas in total sponsored 10/16 teams in the knockout round, of which each company sponsored 5 teams.
Nike chooses to accompany England in EURO 2020 According to statistics from The Athletic, Nike and Adidas also dominate the contract value. Specifically, these two giants sponsored about 85% of the sponsorship contract value and related revenues. For example, Adidas sponsors the German team £56 million a year, 30 times the amount that Hummel spends to sponsor the Danish team.
Of course, it is impossible not to mention Puma, but except for Italy, Puma does not sponsor any big team.
When EURO 2020 becomes a battlefield
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on sports companies. Therefore, a large event with a large number of attendees (in comparison to other events, not as crowded as in the past), is considered a golden opportunity for Nike and Adidas to regain what has been lost.
Although they both attach great importance to the European football festival, the ways of Nike and Adidas are different. While Adidas emphasizes the collective spirit, Nike emphasizes individuality, when focusing on marketing superstars like Kylian Mbappe, the Athletic assessed.
Tim Crow, a sports marketing expert, assesses that Nike uses the whole sport of football as a tool to develop its influence on the world, while Adidas builds a lasting reputation through the teams they are talented at. aid.
Bet on the success of the team
It can be said that how the national teams compete will greatly affect the revenue of a sports company at that tournament.
This is understandable, the deeper the team goes, the more chances the sports company has on television. Moreover, more and more fans buy jerseys to support their home team, leading to increased shirt sales.
In recent years, football has gradually become a national pride, not just a sport anymore. This also helps sports firms to make more money. For example, after the 2014 World Cup ended, the championship helped Germany double its sporting goods sales. Adidas, of course, benefits from this increase in sales.
Talking about the performance of the teams that affect the sports brands, this year the possibility of Nike will “distort the face”. Of the teams that reached the quarter-finals of EURO 2020, only England wore Nike sponsored shirts. Adidas has Belgium and Spain to go on, somewhat prevailed.
