[soccer4ever]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A costly marketing spree at the soccer World Cup appears to have paid off for global number two sportswear and equipment maker Adidas-Salomon which on Wednesday unveiled a larger than expected rise in second quarter profits.

. . . Analysts welcomed a World Cup-inspired sales rise as the first ever Asia-based tournament prompted a sales leap of 26 percent to 539 million euros in that region.

"The World Cup has produced a big rise in orders in Asia, that looks really spectacular," said Madrid-based Merrill Lynch analyst Oscar Marcos.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/020807/retail_adidas_2.html

[Bajoro]

I wonder if Nike also saw a jump.

I heard from a friend of mine who does business with Nike that at the current time, Nike is one very happy customer.

[SJFC4ever]

I know that Nike did well out of the sale of Brazil shirts in Scotland.

[Minnman]

Sorry that I can't find the link, but in the latter stages of the WC, there was an article in (I think) the Washington Post, which talked about the huge increase in soccer apparrel & gear sales in the US in recent years. The quotes were from Nike, which couldn't keep up with demand for US-themed apparel during the Cup, but the stats quoted were for the US market as a whole: As I recall the numbers were something like $40 million/year several years ago, $400 million for this year, and an estimated $1 billion/year within several years. Again, this is only my recollection, but the increase in the size of the soccer market in the US was huge.