WORLD CUP SET TO BE LEAN FOR SPORTSWEAR MAKERS
FRANKFURT: Although World Cup teams will be as boldly emblazoned with logos as ever, sportswear makers see little hope this year of repeating sales leaps that greeted past tournaments in iconic football nations like Germany and Brazil. “There is no doubt that the World Cup in Russia does carry lower financial opportunities than the similar event four years ago in Brazil,” acknowledged Kaspar Rorsted, chief executive of Adidas -the German firm that has supplied footballs to the event since 1970. Like US competitor Nike, a force in football since the United Stateshosted World Cup in 1994, Adidas hopes above all to polish its brand image in 2018, and neither company has set hard sales targets. Russia suffers from a double handicap in the megabrands’ eyes: football is far from being the cultural juggernaut there it is in western Europe, and the country suffers from an international image that is at best mixed. “There’s less likelihood that it will be a resounding festival of football” in Russia as there was in Germany in 2006 or Brazil in 2014, said Markus Voeth, professor of marketing at the University of Hohenheim. “The best thing for Adidas would be a World Cup in western Europe,” agreed Commerzbank analyst Andreas Riemann. “With the tournament happening in Russia, the boost will likely be small” for sportswear sales. Adidas goes into the World Cup with a numerical advantage, sponsoring 12 of the 32 teams.