Adidas

Adidas is a German multinational company, founded in 1949, with headquarters in Herzogenaurach, a city in Bavaria. It manufactures sports equipment and fashion products (bags, shirts, watches, glasses, etc.). The company is also a sponsor of events and sports around the world.

Its revenues exceed $14.534 billion and it has a total of 60,000 employees on the payroll. The brand is worth $6.8 billion, making it the second most valuable brand among sports corporations after Nike.

The Adidas company, founded in January 1949, has its origins in the previous companies of the Dassler family: the "Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik", founded in Germany in the early 1920s by Adolf Dassler together with his brother Rudolf Dassler. They made off-the-shelf, unbranded sneakers, as well as pointy-toe shoes for athletes. Adi was an introverted artist and Rudi was in charge of public relations. Both succeeded in placing their products on the German athletics team. But the main coup was the signing of Jesse Owens, the athlete who dazzled at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. That year, Dassler convinced the American sprinter to wear handmade nails at the Olympics. After Owens' four gold medals, the Dassler shoe name became a household name among the world's athletes and their coaches. The business was successful, and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II.

In 1963, Adidas wanted to expand its business by offering soccer balls. Since 1970, Adidas has been the official sponsor, supplier and owner of the Football World Cup. At this event, Adidas is responsible for providing the balls and clothing for the referees, assistant referees and ball boys. On January 19, 2005, the Adidas Group announced the extension of the partnership between the textile company and FIFA, winning the rights for the 2010 and 2014 event. Later, in November 2013, the brand and FIFA confirmed that their pact would continue until 2030.

In the 1990s, Adidas made a splash with the German national soccer jersey (used in the 94 World Cup in the United States), which featured brightly colored rhombuses as the main detail. The same design was then used for Club America in Mexico in 1994 and later won the Apertura Championship in Argentina for Club River Plate in 1996, one of Adidas' best works in terms of football.