Adidas extends Germany deal worth 50 mn euros-plus a year

PARIS: German sportswear giant Adidas said Monday it had agreed a four-year deal to remain kit supplier to the German football team until 2022 worth more than 50 million euros ($56.5 million) a year.

The agreement with the world champions, announced in Paris during the European Championship finals, came in the face of competition from US giant Nike for the prestigious contract.

The deal almost doubles the sum that Adidas paid under the current contract of around 25 million euros a year.

"I can tell you that we made the DFB an offer of over 50 million euros a year and the DFB accepted," Adidas chief executive Herbert Hainer told a press conference with the German Football Federation (DFB).

DFB president Reinhard Grindel said: "They were the clearest, most sophisticated and, in the end, the most economically succesful negotiations in our federation's history."

Adidas has been Germany's official kit manufacturer for over 60 years and has generally agreed 10-year contracts in the past.

But it faces a constant threat from Nike, which snatched away Adidas's longstanding partnership with France in 2011 and was a reported rival for the Germany contract.

The new deal was announced on the eve of Germany's final Euro 2016 group game against Northern Ireland in Paris on Tuesday, when coach Joachim Loew's side require a point to guarantee a place in the last 16.

Adidas is the world's leading brand for football apparel and is expected to make around 2.5 billion euros this year.

But Nike, which leads the world market across all sports, is increasingly determined to encroach upon its territory.

Nike sponsors leading national teams including Brazil, England and Portugal and will provide kits for the Swiss national team from 2018 onwards.

Aside from Germany, Adidas has partnerships with globally renowned club sides including Manchester United and Real Madrid.

United's Premier League rivals Chelsea have bought themselves out of their current deal with Adidas, said to be worth 380 million euros over 10 years, reportedly to enter a new contract with Nike.