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At FIFA World Cup in Qatar, 13 of the 32 participating countries will be playing in jerseys provided by Nike Inc., the most by any sportswear sponsor at this year’s tournament.
This year, Germany-based Adidas AG will outfit only seven nations. This is only the third time Oregon-based Nike has outperformed Adidas, and the biggest gap Nike has ever held over its longtime rival.
Countries with Nike deals include the host nation and the United States, as well as powerhouse teams like Brazil, England and France. Nike’s popularity comes at the expense of Adidas, which, at the peak of its dominance, outfitted nearly two-thirds of teams at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
While nine different firms are sponsoring World Cup jerseys this year, 81% of teams will be wearing one of three brands.
Kit licensing deals are essential for sportswear companies in their quest to take a bite of the $30 billion global licensed sports merchandise market. For decades, Adidas had been the primary name on World Cup kits. The company sponsored nine of the 16 teams at the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany and continued their dominance until recently. Nike — a relative late-comer to soccer-kit sponsorships — first entered the World Cup fray in 1998 when it sponsored five teams competing in France, and has steadily grown its market share.
Nike is sponsoring 40% of jerseys at the FIFA World Cup this year, outpacing its longtime sportswear rival Adidas. An Adidas spokesperson, however, said their company benefits from prestige of the teams playing in three stripes-embossed jerseys.
“It is not only about quantity but also quality,†said Stefan Pursche, an Adidas spokesperson. “We equip four teams among the top favorites for the title; Argentina, Spain, Belgium, and Germany.â€
Six of the seven nations playing in Adidas’s kits are ranked among the world’s top-20 teams, according to rankings created by FIFA. Nike also sponsors top-ranked teams — seven nations it equips are among the top-20. Nike does however have one big advantage, Brazil — which has won the most World Cup titles and is favoured by oddsmakers to win again this year — will be wearing the swoosh.
Pay Gap at Nike Persisted after changes
Female employees at Nike Inc. who came on board before the company revamped its hiring practices were still subject to pay gaps that totalled at least $11,000 annually compared with male employees, plaintiffs in a lawsuit allege in newly unsealed court documents.
The pay gap is at the center of a gender discrimination suit filed in August 2018. The plaintiffs allege that the footwear and apparel giant engaged in pay discrimination and provided limited opportunities for women to advance. Key details in the case have been kept under wraps at Nike’s request, but a judge this week unsealed several documents in the case following a successful challenge by news outlets.
The $11,000 figure was calculated by an expert witness for the plaintiffs, four former Nike employees who worked at the company’s world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. All four women were hired before the company implemented changes to its starting-pay policy in
September 2017.
Starting salaries, they said, were partially determined based on what they were making at a prior job at the time of their interviews. Oregon joined other states when it banned the practice in October 2017 in an effort to close the state’s gender pay gap.