Nike sponsors German football

Nike is going through a bad patch, and its share price has done very poorly. It hit an all-time high in November 2021, but has almost halved since then. After a good pandemic, when many people took up jogging, sales have moderated and inventory challenges have persisted.

We encourage you to hold tight, and wait for better days. Nike is one of the world's pre-eminent consumer brands, and is strongly associated with the trend towards more active lifestyles and more casual dress. That's called athleisure - informal, comfortable clothing designed to be suitable both for exercise and everyday wear.

As a sign of how convincing Nike's marketing efforts can be, the German national football team has just ended a 77-year sponsorship deal with Adidas, and switched to Nike. That's Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the photo below, wearing Nike-branded FC Barcelona gear. From 2027 onwards, he'll wear Nike kit in goal for Germany.

Nike CEO John Donahoe said they aimed to rebrand both the men's and women's national teams and "to make their athletes global heroes. When Nike brings our best, no one can beat us."