Nike? Adidas? Puma?

Besides identifying teams by the colour of their jerseys, many distinguish teams by the brand of the jersey. Nike? Adidas? And now a third brand, Puma has also entered this duopoly market.

Puma has put up a tough fight by backing four of the six African teams together with reigning champions Italy. However, Adidas still leads with 12 teams under its belt. Some of the teams include Argentina, Germany, Spain, France and host nation, South Africa. Nike on the other hand has teams like Portugal, Australia, United States of America and five time World Cup champions Brazil.

Where does YOUR brand loyalty lie?

Nike is relying on Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and the Brazil team to bring in the big bucks for them. It was recorded in the last world cup that, Brazil was the biggest selling jersey! As for Puma, they are relying on the African spirit as this is the first time this nation is hosting the World Cup. Puma had sold more than 50,000 Algeria jerseys earlier in the year. However one has to give it to Adidas. To gain an upper hand, Adidas signed contracts with some 100 football players to promote its soccer boots as well. Lionel Messi of Argentina and David Villa of Spain are just some of the many familiar faces who front Adidas boots.

In a recent Bloomberg article, it was reported that the Adidas AG boots had scored more goals than its counterparts!

“After 32 games, the 12 national teams wearing Adidas jerseys,

including Argentina, Spain and Germany, had won nine matches and drawn five. That compares with the eight victories and nine tied games by the 10 teams wearing Nike or its Umbro- brand shirts, including Brazil, England and the Netherlands.

Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain, the tournament’s top scorer at the half-way mark, wears Adidas boots.“

Are those boots really that magical?

Adidas is also the official partner of FIFA, hence its name will once again appear on the World Cup ball. It is hoping to outdo 2006’s success of selling 10 million official World Cup balls.

Besides fierce competition on the field, beware of the fight going on in your local sportswear shop!