With European football's winter transfer window "drawing to a close" and players like Alexis Sánchez and Virgil van Dijk "changing hands at values higher than ever," Nike has a "boots-on-the-ground advantage" over adidas, according to Richard Weiss of BLOOMBERG. The combined value of the 100 most expensive players in the professional leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain has hit $11.2B, according to a study by the CIES Football Observatory. Adding data on individual shoe sponsors reveals that 57% of that value comes from players wearing Nike boots -- including Sanchez and van Dijk -- compared with 33% from those wearing adidas. In addition to "its strength as measured by top-player value, Nike recently had an edge over its German rival as the shoe of choice among players in Europe's five biggest leagues." Nike provided cleats for 60% of those players last season, up from 48% three years earlier, according to data provided by German consultancy PR Marketing. Adidas "fought back, however, turning that trend this season," and it maintained its lead in overall football gear. CIES Head Raffaele Poli said, "There is an arms race for the top players and a dramatic increase of sponsorship money." The inflation in player value "comes in large part from booming sporting-goods sales." Nike is seeking $50B in revenue by fiscal '20 and adidas about €26B ($32.3B), meaning their combined marketing spending, typically 10-12% of sales, "may hit" as much as $10B then (BLOOMBERG, 1/26).
