There's no debate, adidas won the 2014 World Cup. In the final match, two adidas squads, Germany and Argentina, played each other. And Germany, where adidas is based and founded, took home the Cup. But a lot of attention was placed on Nike this World Cup. By now, everyone has come familiar with Nike's "Risk Everything" slogan, and the brand's "The Last Game" commercial was quite memorable.
On its media site, Nike, Inc., Nike just posted a graphic on "Nike Football Summer 2014," and it shared the stats the brand put up this season. Nike states that it's the no. 1 "leader in football footwear in major markets globally," the #riskeverything campaign (which featured three films) had 397 million online visits, and it's showed a 21 percent year-end business growth in the soccer category.
The World Cup was big for Nike, but those numbers aren't the only things that happened to Nike's soccer program this summer. 10 out of 32 teams wore Nike kits during the tournament, and it released its first Flyknit soccer boot, the Magista Obra. Not to mention, the World Cup-winning goal, which came off the left foot of German striker Mario Gotze, was scored wearing that boot.
Aside from all of that, Nike was able to integrate soccer into the lifestyle market, too. Nike Sportswear released the Free Mercurial Superfly HTM and the Elastico Superfly. The Tiempo '94 also saw many renditions.
All it took was a trip to Nike NYC, formerly Niketown, to feel an excitement around Nike, the World Cup, and soccer in America. And, in that sense, Nike continues to win.
[via Nike]
