Things are getting pretty heated in Nike VS Adidas timeless battle. If you were to look at the books, it would seem that Nike is absolutely crushing Adidas. Their inventory and assets/market cap is valued at $211 Billion dollars as opposed to Adidas’ $71.16 Billion dollar! That’s a staggering number indeed! And, it’s hard to believe that Adidas could even come close to touching it.
However, Adidas’s deal with Kanye West has been steadily taking the Three Stripes to the top. Adidas even snatched up Houston Rockets star James Harden with a $200 million USD endorsement deal! Thus, challenging Nike in a space that they’ve dominated for a long time: basketball. You better believe that these two giants are about to face off. WHERE’S THE POPCORN?
So, with that thought in mind let’s take a look at the history of the two firms.
Adidas’ Yeezy brand keeps going head to head with the Jordan brand as the second most popular shoe company in the US. Of course, this is a direct challenge to the top dog as Nike actually owns the Jordan brand. Adidas has dominated the sneaker game for some while because of its unprecedented growth! But, it still has a long way to go to catch Nike – sitting firmly on its throne.
The Backstory: ADIDAS
Before the Adidas VS Nike war, the Three Stripes had their own battles to fight. Adidas has a long war-torn and battle-scarred history. It is a multinational corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and is the largest sportswear manufacturer across all of Europe. The brand was first registered on August 18th, 1949 by founder Adolf Dassler.
But, after a nasty feud between Dassler and his older brother Rudolf, the first true shoe rivalry in history began. Rudolf formed Puma and became the direct rival of the Adidas brand. After surviving the hells of WWII, the two brothers began to promote their businesses in a big way.
In 1947, the brothers’ town earned the nickname “the town of bent necks” as people tended to look at the shoes that strangers wore who strolled into town. Back to the present day, we’ve still got the same ongoing battles but now it’s all Nike VS Adidas.
The Backstory: Nike
Nike was originally known as the Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) and was founded by Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. In its first year of business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes that grossed around $8,000. By 1965, the company made about $20,000. It was up to a good start and the company wasn’t going to slow down anytime soon. The iconic “Swoosh” was first used on Nike shoes on June 18th, 1971. But, Phil probably had no idea he’d be facing off in a Nike VS Adidas battle soon enough!
In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners as its advertising agency, and things began to blow up from there. With aggressive marketing tactics, Nike had gobbled up 50% of the market share in the US athletic shoe market. The “Just-Do-It” ad ran during a campaign in 1988 and was eventually coined as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th century. The ’80s and ’90s were a time of growth and prosperity for Nike. It was in 1990 that Nike moved its headquarters to Beaverton, Oregon where they eventually opened their first retail store dubbing it “Niketown”.
Nike VS Adidas Hype
It can’t be argued that ever since Kanye West partnered up with Adidas, the company has been getting a lot of hype. Since 2014, Kanye has been claiming that his Yeezy Boost line was more coveted by sneakerheads than Jordan sneakers. But, now that he has surpassed the Jordan brand, observers are starting to take note.
Most of them agree that one of the major reasons Nike has seen a decline is their lack of interest in running and basketball shoes. When it comes to the fall of Jordan Brand, fans were getting tired of the inundation of retro Jordans that the company has been releasing for the past few years. There are only so many times that you’ll empty your wallet for a new pair of retro Jordans.
To be honest, we can’t disregard the “halo effect” that Yeezys have on Adidas. Now that Yeezys are so popular, Adidas as a whole is likely gaining more popularity as a result. Though that would be impossible to calculate numerically.
The all-American giant Swoosh is no stranger to the hype, and they’ve definitely had epic sneaker collaborations over the years. We’re talking Tom Sachs’ Mars Yard 2.0, Virgil Abloh’s Air Jordan 1s, and much more. When it comes to baseball, even the rather unpopular Air Jordan sneakers are beginning to make a comeback. In terms of hype, Adidas seems to have Nike beat, but the numbers don’t lie. Nike still has the sneaker throne.
Nike VS Adidas Sponsorships
When it comes to sponsorships, the Nike VS Adidas debate can make you dizzy – we’re seeing zeroes! Nike has sunk their claws deep into a number of superstar athletes and they’ve been shelling out a ton of money in sponsorships. They have dominated nearly every sport there is. These include American football, baseball, basketball, boxing, cricket, and much more both past and present. Here’s a list of a few of the athletes Nike has sponsored (both past and present):
- Michael Jordan (basketball) – $130,000,000
- Serena Williams (tennis) – $20,000,000
- Lebron James (basketball) – $54,000,000
- Roger Federer (tennis) – $60,000,000
- Kevin Durant (basketball) – $36,000,000
- Tiger Woods (golf) – $45,000,000
- Kobe Bryant (basketball) – $25,000,000
Adidas hasn’t been sitting idly by while Nike takes over the Nike VS Adidas fight. No. They’ve also jumped into many of the same sports that Nike has and have been grabbing as many athletes as they can:
- Kanye West (music) – 5% Royalties on Net sales
- David Beckham (sport) – $160,000,000
- Jayson Werth (baseball) – $200,000
- Novak Djokovic (tennis) – $34,000,000
- Lionel Messi (soccer) – $28,000,000
- Kobe Bryant (before Nike snatched him)
- James Harden (basketball) $17,000,000
- Derrick Rose (basketball) – $14,000,000
- Jason Day (golf) – $8,5000,000
- Pharrell Williams (music)
- Beyoncé (music)
But, keep in mind that these amounts are a combination of sponsors (not just Nike VS Adidas), but generally speaking Nike tends to pay far more than Adidas when it comes to sponsorships. This list is in no way all-inclusive. Between the two of them, Nike and Adidas sponsor hundreds of celebrities and athletes.
And, in recent collaboration news, Adidas managed to ink several big names in the music industry like Queen Bey and even made a debut in the gaming world. And if you think Nike’s been watching from a distance, you’re wrong! After their iconic line with Virgil Abloh, Nike now has Travis Scott on board – Nike VS Adidas, or Checks VS Stripes?
Checks VS Stripes in Creative Freedom & Technology
Creative Freedom
Sometimes it’s not a matter of the contract value, it’s a matter of freedom. And what Adidas lacks in cash it makes up for in creative freedom and unique designs!
We got bad sneaker news when Sean Wotherspoon left Nike to spread his wings farther than ever – like maybe with Adidas? In the Nike VS Adidas battle, Adidas won this with the SuperEarth! This was the exact reason why Kanye West parted ways with Nike in the first place. And look where that got him! You’d think they learned from their mistake!
Sneaker Technologies
A major part of this endless Nike VS Adidas rivalry is happening on the level of technologies. For decades now, Nike and Adidas battled to dominate the tech arena, – trying to innovate the best and most functional cushioning, lacing systems, and fit. And for what it’s worth we can say Nike has invented and utilized a wider range of technologies to cater to all their customers’ needs. But it feels like Adidas is always the brand to first introduce a technology right before Nikecopies, and upgrades it.
Adidas |
Nike |
| 4D | Adapt |
| Adifit | Air |
| Adiprene | Joyride |
| Adituff | Max Air |
| Boost | Nike Free |
| Bounce | Nike Plus |
| Climacool | React |
| Geofit | Zoom |
Nike VS Adidas Humanity – Update [2020]
In the Nike VS Adidas debacle it is humanity that matters most. Both Nike and Adidas have invested time, money, and effort in helping make this world a better place. A better place for athletes, active sneaker fans, and almost everyone. They have long lists of charity and community projects as well as environment-centered initiatives.
But, in light of the recent and unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 all eyes are on those 2 rivals to see which one would stay ahead in the race to eliminate the negative impact of this pandemic.
Nike created their own face masks right around the time Adidas caught the biggest backlash from fans around the world. And though Adidas made up for it by creating protective face shields, we fear that the ‘Sneaker North Will Remember’.
The Future
In short, if you were to compare the two companies, there are a lot of factors to consider in the Nike VS Adidas issue. Adidas has a lot more history than Nike – they survived a world war for heaven’s sake! However, Nike has risen to take over the world in a relatively short time.
The future outcome in the Nike VS Adidas debate is uncertain for these competing shoe lines. Adidas certainly has the hype, but do they have what it takes to overthrow Nike? Although they’ve been awfully silent in 2021! We’ll see what the future holds for both Nike and Adidas.
But we won’t just sit around doing nothing. While the Nike VS Adidas battle continues, we’ll keep on copping all the new Adidas and Nike sneakers using the best sneaker bots in the game. At the end of the day, all that matters to us is the resale and the money! So, make sure you check out AIO Bot to help you cop limited Nike and Adidas sneakers for you to flip and earn some good cash.
