adidas positive about World Cup sales outlook despite Germany's elimination

Adidas is still positive about its sales outlook for the 2022 World Cup despite four of its seven sponsored teams being eliminated from the tournament. The German sports company is expecting about US$421 million in sales from the tournament, Reuters said quoting adidas' spokesperson. In fact, sales for this year's World Cup are currently higher than the 2018 tournament.

Germany was knocked out of the tournament by Japan on 1 December and the following day, the country's football shirts were on sale at a 50% discount on adidas' website. Nonetheless, Reuters said the company's spokesperson "remained upbeat". While the company is hurt by Germany's elimination, the spokesperson said adidas is "benefiting from the international enthusiasm in Qatar".

Meanwhile, adidas' spokesperson also told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that majority of the benefit from World Cup-related sales is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of the year. Currently, demand for jerseys and other football products is particularly strong in Japan, South America and Qatar.

The spokesperson added that football sales grew by 30% in the first nine months of 2022 compared to last year. Adidas is currently still represented by Japan, Spain, and Argentina. Meanwhile, rival Nike has nine of its 13 national teams in the next round while Puma has six teams. 

Aside from jerseys, adidas is also providing the official match ball of the tournament – adidas “Al Rihla”. “Al Rihla” translates to “the journey” in Arabic and has been inspired by the architecture, iconic boats, and the flag of Qatar. At the same time, it is also partnering renowned athletes including Lionel Messi (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Jude Bellingham (England), Gabriel Jesus (Brazil) or Son Heung-min (South Korea). Adidas also equips the referees.

Separately, the company recently opened an investigation into Kanye West's reportedly inappropriate behaviour with employees while they were working on the Yeezy line. Its spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it does not tolerate hate speech and offensive behaviour and therefore has terminated the adidas Yeezy partnership.

"We have been and continue to be actively engaged in conversations with our employees about the events that lead to our decision to end the partnership. They have our full support and as we’re working through the details of the termination," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also added that while it is currently unclear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true, it takes them very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations.

West, who now goes by Ye, reportedly watched porn in meetings and during office hours and also showed it to employees. He also showed employees intimate photos of his wife Kim Kardashian.

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