By Mark Baber
July 3 – adidas is to Bayern, as the Oktoberfest is to Munich, whilst Nike are adidas’ main competitor in the global soccer apparel market, having consolidated that position with the sponsorship of the England, French and Brazilian national sides. So adidas officials were not amused when, at the official unveiling of his new adidas Bayern Munich shirt in Munich, Bayern’s new 37-million-euro man, Mario Götze wore a T-Shirt featuring a giant Nike Swoosh logo.
Adidas is not just a sponsor, but also a 9.1% shareholder in Bayern. The move of Götze, who is sponsored by Nike personally, from Borussia Dortmund has already sparked controversy and Bayern have been quick to make an apology.
Adidas spokesman Oliver Bruggen told the Abendzeitung, “The images of today’s press conference with Mario Götze were an unpleasant surprise for us. Contractually, of course, that is not permissible because it was an official event of Adidas-Partner FC Bayern Munich.”
The injury to adidas’ feelings was compounded by newcomer Jan Kirchhoff also making his appearance wearing a shirt emblazened with Nike motto “Go Like Hell” and the Swoosh logo.
Whilst Götze was providing an unpleasant surprise in Munich, of more concern to adidas commercially will have been yesterday’s report from stock market tipping site The Motley Fool, recommending Nike shares to investors, as the chief challenger to the German company’s global dominance continues to show solid progress, especially in the Americas.
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