On The Street, On The Pitch, NIKE Is Realizing Its Goal Of Becoming The World's Leading Football Brand
14 February 2006 - 4:11AM
PR Newswire (US)
At Berlin Olympic Stadium, NIKE unveils national team uniforms and
shows how the world's most popular game has quickly become one of
the company's strongest sports BERLIN, Feb. 13
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BERLIN OLYMPIC STADIUM -- In the heart of
the stadium where the title of the world's best football team will
be determined this summer, NIKE today unveiled national team
uniforms, displayed the breadth and depth of its most innovative
football product line ever and highlighted its growth momentum in
becoming the leading football brand, dedicated to the joy of
playing the world's most beautiful game. "Great football is
inspiring, on the street and in the stadium, and Nike is in Berlin
today to celebrate brilliant football," Charlie Denson, president
of the Nike brand, said at the global event, which was attended by
media from all over the world. "Nike football is about the joy of
playing. Our products, our players and our global brand leadership
reflect that." Denson highlighted Nike's dramatic growth in
football in just over a decade, from roughly a $40 million business
in 1994 to one that is approaching $1.5 billion today. This year
Nike expects to sell a record 23 million pair of football footwear,
more than 10 million balls and more than two million of the team
replica uniforms unveiled at the Berlin event. "Nike football
represents one of our top three businesses today, an incredible
achievement from where we started in 1994," Denson said. "We have
great momentum. In the past four years, we have more than doubled
Nike's football business worldwide, and we have established brand
leadership in the hearts and minds of consumers. We are confident
that Nike product innovation and our connection to players and
consumers will continue to drive significant growth." The focal
point of the Berlin event was Nike's unveiling of national team
uniforms for the eight Nike-sponsored teams competing in the World
Cup, including title holder Brasil, as well as Australia, Croatia,
Holland, Korea, Mexico, Portugal and the United States. The new
uniforms use the innovative Nike Sphere Dry apparel technology to
keep players cool on the pitch. Nike worked with each federation on
the development of the uniforms. Unique designs for each uniform,
such as numbers, colors, collars and detailing, are inspired by
that country's football heritage. Each of the eight teams was
represented by a player wearing the home uniform of their country:
Adriano for Brasil; Marco Bresciano for Australia; Dado Prso for
Croatia; Ruud van Nistelrooy for Holland; JS Park for Korea; Jared
Borgetti for Mexico; Luis Figo for Portugal; and DaMarcus Beasley
for the United States. Simultaneously to the global unveiling in
Berlin, Nike held events in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul,
Amsterdam and Lisbon to present national team uniforms to the fans
and other media in those countries. Nike Sphere Dry is just one
example of product innovation across Nike's footwear, apparel and
equipment product lines for football. Other key product innovation
is reflected in the fastest boot, Nike's Mercurial Vapor III, and
the Tiempo and Total 90 boots, as well as the Mercurial and Aerow
Total 90 balls. About NIKE, Inc. NIKE, Inc. based in Beaverton,
Oregon is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of
authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for
a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly- owned Nike
subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and
distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; NIKE Bauer
Hockey Inc., a leading designer and distributor of hockey
equipment; Cole Haan, a leading designer and marketer of luxury
shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Hurley International LLC,
which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth
lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories and Exeter Brands Group
LLC, which designs and markets athletic footwear and apparel for
the value retail channel. DATASOURCE: NIKE, Inc. CONTACT: Morgan
Shaw, +1-212-367-4447, or Vada Manager, +1-503-671-2875, both for
NIKE, Inc. Web site: http://www.nike.com/
Copyright