Adidas Focuses On Soccer Market Leadership In 2010

GEORGE FREY

FRANKFURT (AP) — The 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which kicks off a year from now, will help German sportswear company Adidas AG increase its presence in the world soccer market, the company's CEO said Wednesday.

The Herzogenaurach-based Adidas, the world's second largest sportswear company by sales after Nike, Inc. of Beaverton, Oregon, said its partnerships with FIFA, the organizer of the World Cup, and with many national teams puts the company in a strong market position prior to the world's most-watched sports tournament.

In 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, Adidas beat its own expectations with about euro1.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in revenues for soccer items alone, as fans snapped up jerseys and balls during the monthlong tournament. ...