adidas has acknowledged that it will not renew its apparel deal with the NBA when it expires following the '16-17 season, and Mark King, the company's North America President, said it is possible adidas could sign more player deals in lieu of the league partnership. King during a one-on-one interview at the IMG World Congress of Sports said, “When you look at sports in America -- the ones that really make a difference, that are on TV and have massive fanbases and participation -- it’s football, baseball, basketball. We’re underinvested in every one of the sports in terms of players. You take the NFL: There’s about 1,800 players in the NFL give or take a few and we only have 25 players today that wear our cleats. If we had 250 players, it’s really not even enough. So I think we’re very committed to sports in America -- football, baseball, basketball -- and we will find ways to participate at many levels whether its athletes, partnerships, leagues. And to be honest, if you’re going to be the best sports brand in the world, which is who we’d like to be as a brand, you’ve got to have them all. I’d like to have LeBron James, Michael Jordan -- I mean it’s a delicate balance because there’s only a few iconic athletes in each category that actually are worth the money. So if you can’t have those athletes, then I think it’s about having the numbers. So let’s take golf for example: Nike has the two best players in the world in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, yet in their golf-equipment business, it’s very small -- they have less than 2 or 3% market share or 4 or 5 or whatever it is. So on the TaylorMade side, because we don’t have these iconic players, we just go for a mass of players. Fifty percent of the pro athletes use our gear and we have 40-50% marketshare. So I think there’s different ways to use athletes and I think it’s what’s afforded to you: What are the opportunities? Can you convince athletes to come? Because today’s there many options whether it’s colleges or athletes or leagues so it’s hyper competitive.”
ROSE'S INJURIES HAVE HURT: King said when Bulls G and adidas endorser Derrick Rose won the NBA MVP following the '10-11 season, adidas' marketshare "in footwear in basketball was three times what it is today, so his inability to play at the same level really has hurt us." Current endorsers include Wizards G John Wall, Trail Blazers G Damian Lillard and T'Wolves F Andrew Wiggins, and King said, "We like a lot of these players we have, but to get to that level, it’s a rare athlete that gets there (to the point of being worth the expenditure)."
