With the European Championship finals off on Friday, it "is not just events on the pitch that will grace our television screens over the coming month," according to Ben Grounds of the London DAILY MAIL. Advertising for major sporting events "is huge business, and as France prepares for its opening game against Romania in Euro 2016, the battle between two of sport's biggest brands is hotting up." Nike and adidas "will be strongly represented throughout the tournament, with the battleground for supplying kits and endorsing the world's most recognised players set to be fiercer than ever." The data in Repucom's new European Football Report revealed "which of the two sportswear giants comes out on top in the various key categories." Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo "is in a league of his own when it comes to sponsorship endorsements." The Real Madrid player earns more than €19M ($21.5M) a year, while adidas' highest earners Gareth Bale and Paul Pogba earn around €4M ($4.5M) respectively. Since Euro 1996, adidas has "dominated in terms of the number of teams competing to be kitted out in their attire at the tournament." This summer, nine of the 24 teams (37%) "will wear kits manufactured by the German sports giant," compared to Nike's six (25%) while Puma's five (21%) is the third supplier with the highest number of representatives (DAILY MAIL, 6/9).
