Adidas and Nike "dominate the global market for football kits," which Reuters estimates to be worth more than $5B a year, according to Samantha Pearson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. While Nike "is the world’s biggest sportswear maker by sales," adidas "has long had the upper hand in football."
Adidas declined "to comment on how much it spent on the 2014 World Cup," but analysts estimate its sponsorship of each tournament costs $100M.
However, Nike "is gaining ground and is determined to overtake the German company as the world’s leading football brand." Nike’s marketing strategy "is different." Rather than paying to be an official sponsor of the World Cup, Nike "sponsored individual footballers and teams and pursued strategies effectively to piggyback the event."
In the advertising industry, such techniques are known as "ambush marketing," but Nike "dislikes the term." The company said, "We would say that is simply marketing -- not ambush marketing." Nike Brand President Trevor Edwards: "Our football business has never been stronger" (FT, 9/23)