The German National Team will switch from adidas to Nike

Last night, the world of sports sponsorships was shaken by a huge and unexpected news: the German National Football Team will be leaving their technical sponsor adidas in 2027 to join their direct competitors, Nike. This earthquake immediately generated a series of comments and discussions, and will leave Die Mannschaft without a German sponsor. The German National Team and adidas are almost synonymous, representing the longest-standing sponsorship relationship between a football federation and a sports brand, dating back to 1972. There have been at least four generations who have never seen a German jersey without the Three Stripes on the chest, and no one would have expected this announcement just a few hours after the launch of the new jerseys that will be worn by the team during the Euro2024 at home, which will start in June.

The President of the DBF, Bernd Neuendorf, commented on the news by explaining how the switch to Nike is "the result of a transparent and non-discriminatory bidding process. Nike made by far the best financial offer and also impressed with the contents of their vision, which included a clear commitment to support amateur and grassroots sports, as well as the sustainable development of women's football in Germany." The Swoosh has indeed focused a lot on women's football in recent years, and it is no coincidence that the movement is also growing in Germany. However, the economic aspect remains, perhaps the most important in the surprising choice of the German Federation. If adidas currently has a contract in place until 2026 for about fifty million euros per season, according to the authoritative German economic newspaper Handelsblatt, Nike would have offered an amount exceeding 100 million euros.

Nike has therefore decided to invest a very high budget to snatch the most prestigious contract in their sports history from their direct competitors. This choice was made possible by the liquidity now available to the Swoosh, which in recent seasons has lost several sponsorship deals with other federations around the world, the latest of which was with Portugal. However, no one could have expected such a bold and daring move, which in fact breaks a non-aggression pact between the two giants of sports apparel.