To be honest I know pretty much nothing about the sport of cricket. However, both of these top brands are trying to capture sponsorships in this sport. Cricket is extremely popular in India, England, South Africa, and Australia. Currently, Adidas holds sponsorships with 3 of those countries including England, South Africa, and Australia. While this may make seem that they are clearly top dog, Nike has the crown jewel of India. They recently re-upped their deal with the national team by promising to provide match day shirts, training wear, headgear, sweatbands and
bags. Nike is looking to expand by investing significant dollars in the sport, specifically in India. Adidas and Reebok were right on the cusp of making a deal, but Nike's past relationship with the Cricket committee sealed the deal. It will be interesting to see how these brands progress will fare in this relatively unknown sport. While Adidas still controls a majority of the European market, Nike is positioning themselves to take over the top spot through strategic player and sport sponsorships.
-Jimmy Madden
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/nike_renew_commitment_to_indian_cricket/
I'd be curious to see if India or England could create their own cricket athletic gear company? The sport is big enough where I think another company could come into play almost like how Under Armor did with american football. I'm sure their native country would prefer growing a new local company over an American or German company.
ReplyDeleteOf course these "start-ups" can't provide the massive contracts that these goliaths can, but I'd imagine it would be worth looking into for the countries and sport.
Yeah, I agree with the comment above. I feel like Cricket is a fairly untouched market regarding new and innovative clothing. I feel like if Nike or Adidas stepped in and helped make lighter jerseys or more stylish pants it could go a long way in terms of globalizing the game. Although adults do not normally wear jerseys of their favorite soccer clubs, the youth would be fascinated by new equipment or jerseys and want to buy the new jerseys of their favorite teams.
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