Adidas aims to raise its leading share of the global soccer market to more than the current 34 per cent, chief executive Herbert Hainer said today at the company’s Herzogenaurach, Germany headquarters.

 

Shoes and shirts for the World Cup will go on sale in this year’s second half.

Hainer said: “We start from the same position as for the extremely successful 2006 World Cup.

 

Adidas will supply the ball for the tournament, and will outfit officials, referees, volunteers and the South African national team, the chief executive said.

 

Sales at the last World Cup in Germany exceeded Adidas’s forecasts and enabled the company to add one percent to two percent to its share of the global football footwear market.

 

To capitalise on that tournament, Adidas sponsored teams including Argentina and spent more on marketing goods including replica jerseys.

 

In regions such as Germany and North America, the company’s share of the football market is “clearly over 50 per cent,” Hainer said.

 

The sporting-goods maker expects “double-digit” sales growth in World Cup host South Africa in coming years.

 

Tournament marketing will focus on digital channels and on the individual point of sale, said Bernd Wahler, the company’s chief marketing officer for sport performance products.