Adidas’ plans for the future of the Yeezy business in the wake of the termination of its partnership with Ye continue to take shape, with the brand breaking down its outlook to investors today in its Q3 2022 earnings call.
In the conference call, Adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said that the end of the Yeezy deal will have a short-term negative impact of up to $250 million on the company’s net income this year as Yeezy releases account for 33% of the brand’s total annual revenue. The brand said it will save €300 million in royalty payments and marketing fees after canceling its deal with Ye.
Adidas’ CFO echoed that the brand owns the rights to all Yeezy designs and intends to make use of them as early as next year. In the conference call, Adidas said that it’s developing a plan to make use of existing Yeezy inventory in 2023. The brand has already asked retailers to stop the sale of these products and, in some cases, reached out about recalling the shoes.
Adidas’ decision to terminate its partnership with Ye was announced on Oct. 22 after months of him publicly bashing the global sportswear company and making antisemitic comments on social media and various interviews. Ye first signed with Adidas in 2013 and then entered into a long-term partnership with the brand in 2016 that was reportedly set to expire in 2026. Previously, he had a collaborative partnership with the Three Stripes’ chief rival, Nike, which was highlighted by their Nike Air Yeezy releases.
One analyst on the conference call asked Ohlmeyer to elaborate on whether the brand’s plan for Yeezys would entail rebranding the shoes without the Yeezy name, which it does not have the rights to use.
“I want to repeat very clearly that we are the sole owner of the intellectual property rights to the current and future colorways and we have a lot of things in the archive,” the CFO said, “so there are plans that we are vetting right now.”
