Adidas’ World Cup victory comes at a price

The World Cup delivered Adidas more than substantial growth in the second quarter. Yet there is also criticism: the (too?) high marketing investments are weighing on the sporting goods company’s profitability.

The downside

Adidas reported a 13% increase in revenue to 6.7 billion euros for the past quarter. This comes as no great surprise: the company had previously announced that it sold four times as many soccer jerseys during the World Cup as it did during the previous tournament, while sales of soccer balls also doubled. The sports retailer estimated World Cup-related revenue at approximately 1.5 billion euros.