As a brand that has been struggling to keep pace with Nike over the last decade or so, this isn’t the best time for the NBA to shut things down on Adidas. Their featured pitchman Derrick Rose is the League’s reigning MVP, the adiZero Rose 2 just dropped, and both he and his Bulls show no signs of slowing down next season.
Besides all that, there will be no opportunity to sell Kyrie Irving’s rookie jersey, Derrick Williams’, Iman Shumpert’s, or anybody else’s because none of these guys are currently under contract with the NBA at the moment. In all, projections have Adidas standing to lose about half of the $100 million they make annually from their NBA related products if this Lockout continues.
This according to Reuters (via FoxNews.com):
“With the first two weeks of the basketball season canceled and more games under threat, German sporting goods maker Adidas faces losing half its licensed NBA apparel sales, analysts estimate
Adidas stands to be worst hit from the “lockout” because it has held the license to provide NBA uniforms and apparel since 2006.
The German group makes some $100 million in sales from licensed NBA products, with basketball products as a whole, including footwear, among its top five sporting categories.
Matt Powell, analyst at SportsOneSource, told Reuters licensed apparel sales could halve, similar to the last lockout in the 1998/99 season, if the season were canceled.
“Overall, sales of NBA licensed products fell by 20 percent last week, and I view that as the beginning of the fall because of the lockout,” he said.
Others say it is important for the season to start up before Christmas, not only because it’s the busiest time for the retail world but because NBA products become less in demand as the season goes on.
“In terms of licensed apparel, fans tend to buy jerseys near the beginning of the season,” U.S.-based Euromonitor analyst Kailing Cai told Reuters.
Before you lump this story into the category of “a corporation like Adidas can stand to lose some money,” it’s also important to think about the residual effect this has on the local economy as well. These NBA products fill the shelves at Foot Locker, Finish Line, and wherever else, and these individual stores will be affected by this hit Adidas is taking also. Just another reason why this lockout blows; hopefully the mediator will figure out a way to make it stop tomorrow.
Photo: TheShoeGame
