Nike is gearing up for its quadrennial FIFA World Cup showdown with Adidas, as the two companies battle for soccer bragging rights on the global stage. Nike unveiled its World Cup offerings in footwear, apparel and accessories in Madrid the past two days. Nike fired its latest shot Friday with the unveiling of the Mercurial Superfly boot worn by global superstarCristiano Ronaldo, who will represent Portugal in this summer’s World Cup in Brazil. “Nike is football’s most innovative and powerful brand,” said Nike CEO Mark Parker at the Madrid event.
Nike still trails Adidas slightly in terms of its soccer business when it comes to revenue. Soccer represents less than 10% of Nike’s $27 billion in sales over the last 12 months. Adidas, which is the official sponsor of the World Cup, expects soccer revenues to hit $2.8 billion this year. Nike is outfitting a World Cup-high 10 teams, including Brazil, England and the U.S. The sportswear titans each have one of the world’s two biggest soccer stars in its stable with Ronaldo shilling for Nike and Lionel Messi for Adidas.
The new Mercurial boot is a product of four years of R&D in the Nike Sport Research Lab. It was created to “revolutionize speed.” The Mercurial first launched in 1998 and this is the fourth version of the Superfly. “It really allows the boot to be an extension of the foot,” says Phil McCartney, VP of Sport Performance Footwear.
Technological advances for the Mercurial include a new three knit weave that puts less material between the foot and ball to improve a player’s touch. The basketball sneaker like high-top design is intended to create a better fit. In addition, the boots have added studs at the heel for stability and extra traction at the toe for enhanced grip. “We are not trying to make the lightest boot, but the fastest one,” says McCartney. The high-end version of the shoes will retail for $275 and are available June 12 when the World Cup opens with a match between Brazil and Croatia.
Ronaldo promises to be one of the stars of this summer’s World Cup. He is FIFA’s reigning player of the year and has led the Champions League in goals scored the past two years, tying the 14 goal record during the current campaign. Ronaldo is the sport’s most marketable active player going into the World Cup. His annual earnings off the pitch are more than $20 million a year from sponsors like Nike, Castrol and Emirates.
Ronaldo is able to reach a global audience better than any other athlete in the world thanks to his Facebook (79 million) and Twitter (26 million) followings, which are both tops among all athletes. Ronaldo is a bargain for Nike at a cost of $8-9 million a year. The new four-minute ad below features Ronaldo,Neymar and Wayne Rooney with cameos by Kobe Bryant and Ronaldo’s supermodel girlfriend Irina Shayk. Ronaldo has shown that he can do anything on the pitch, but can he help Nike topple Adidas off of it?
