Nike has outfitted national soccer teams including Brazil and the United States. However, the European great powers, such as Spain, Germany, and France have traditionally worn Adidas as it represents the Europeans (with some exceptions of the Dutch and the Portuguese who have been sponsored by Nike since mid 1990s.)
In the summer of 2007, Nike lost out in a bid to supply the German national team. Although Nike offered a few times more (500 million euros) than Adidas’ bid, the German Football Association opt to retain and renew the deal with their home brand Adidas, which has sponsored since 1954.
In 2008, Nike outbid Adidas for the rights to outfit the French national team with the offer that amounts to 4.5 times more than Adidas’ old contract. Hereby, the French Federation of Football, the French national soccer team betrayed Adidas, its sponsor since 1972, and made contract with Nike, which started in 2011 and is effective through 2017-2018 seasons.
An internet football news, mCalcio. com calls it Nike’s coupe d’etat on Adidas and it also notes that “six in ten French prefer Adidas to Nike.” There still is some anti-Americanism in Europe, but Nike is in the way to Americanize the continent as well as the island. It also recently acquired British soccer brand Umbro.
Nike is successfully increasing its market share with the aggressive strategy; however a legacy passed down through generations of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane has come to an end, and personally I will miss the French Tricolor on the Adidas’ three stripes.
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I really liked that you broke up the text with so many pictures!