Derrick Rose is the face of Adidasbasketball. He is the star of their commercial campaigns like this “Basketball is Everything” spot, and he is all over thebrand’s website. Rose is the company’s best hope for taking on the sport’s behemoth in shoes in Nike. But for the second straight year, Rose is sidelined. The Chicago Bulls announced Monday that Rose would miss the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery to repair the medial meniscus in his right knee.
It is the latest blow for Adidas, which invested heavily in Rose when it inked the 2011 NBA MVP to a $185 million, 13-year contract in February 2012. It was the biggest shoe deal ever for an NBA player and potentially worth more than $200 million after royalty payments. But two months after signing the deal, Rose tore the ACL in his left knee in a playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers. The injury sidelined Rose for the entire 2012-13, which marked the first year of his new Adidas deal.
Adidas’ other major star in its basketball stable isDwight Howard, who has been on a roller coaster ride the past two years and now is the most hated man in the NBA. Howard had a torturous “should I stay or should I go” dance with the Orlando Magic before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers last year. He endured a brutal season in LA, while slowly recovering from back surgery, before spurning the Lakers to sign as a free agent with the Houston Rockets. It was a startlingly free fall for Howard, who was one of the NBA’s most popular players five years ago. Adidas unveiled its latest Howard signature shoe in August, but don’t expect it to fly off the shelves. Howard’s Adidas signature shoes sold only $5 million worth in the U.S. at retail in 2012, according to research firm SportsOneSource.
Adidas hasn’t had much more luck moving Rose’s signature shoe. It sold only $25 million of his signature shoes in 2012. The brand is playing catch-up to Nike in a big way. The U.S. basketball market is a $3.7 billion business and Nike, including its fully-owned Jordan brand, control 92% of the market, according to SportsOneSource. Adidas with 5.5% share is fighting for scraps along with Reebok (1.6%) and Under Armour UA -0.21% (0.6%). Adidas had 15% of the U.S. basketball market in 2004.
The basketball shoe market is up 25% this year and growth at Adidas has been comparable. The brand got a lot of mileage marketing Rose’s rehab and comeback from injury. “It will be tough to maintain that growth with their marquee player out for the year,” says SportsOneSource analyst Matt Powell. “Adidas struggled to gain sales in basketball while Rose was out.”
Adidas has added second-tier players to its endorsement roster like the Minnesota Timberwolves Ricky Rubio, who inked a deal last year. John Wall joined Adidas in January after Reebok got out of the basketball shoe business. Neither of these guys is moving the needle in the battle against $25.8 billion-in-sales Nike. The Swoosh features LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and dozens more in its marketing efforts for the Nike and Jordan brands.
Adidas’ best hope might lie in a player not even in the NBA yet. Reports surfaced in October that Adidas was willing to shell out $180 million to signUniversity of Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins, who presumably will enter the 2014 NBA draft. Wiggins is a remarkable talent (check out video proofhere), but $180 million would be twice as much as the deal James signed with Nike when he entered the NBA in 2003. James was considered the ultimate can’t miss superstar, but Adidas might have to overpay Wiggins to replenish its endorsement roster.
–
You can follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my Facebook profile. Read my Forbes blog here.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario