Adidas Hopes Its World Cup Moment Can Drive U.S. Sales

When Spain and Argentina face off in the World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon, the three stripes of Adidas will be everywhere.

Adidas sponsors both national teams. It also has endorsement deals with the two biggest superstars on the pitch, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Spain’s Lamine Yamal. Even the ball will be wearing an Adidas logo.

“You couldn’t have scripted it better,” Bjørn Gulden, the chief executive of Adidas, said in an interview in New York the day before he planned to attend the match.

Adidas sold four times as many jerseys and twice as many balls as it did during the previous World Cup in Qatar, he said. The company expects event-related sales to reach over $1.7 billion.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/business/adidas-world-cup-bjorn-gulden.html