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‘Lack of patriotism’: German football team to cut ties with Adidas after 70 years

German football's decision to drop Adidas as its kit supplier sparked dismay in the government on Friday, with the Economy Minister blasting the switch to US sportswear giant Nike as a lack of "patriotism".

Published: 22 March 2024 09:39 CET

National coach Julian Nagelsmann holds up the German National team's new official European Championship jersey at a press conference at the end of March. The announcement to switch to Nike in the future came just days later. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

“I can hardly imagine the Germany shirt without the three stripes,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement to AFP.

“For me, Adidas and black-red-gold always belonged together,” Habeck said, describing the pairing as a “piece of German identity”.

With the homegrown sportswear brand and the economy both experiencing tough times, Habeck said he “would have hoped for more patriotism” from the German Football Association (DFB).

The DFB on Thursday said it would end its decades-long partnership with Adidas, selecting Nike as its new supplier from 2027.

German national teams have worn Adidas gear since the 1950s, with the partnership becoming synonymous with the success on the pitch.

The deal with Nike was “by far the best financial offer” on the table, DFB CEO Holger Blask said in a statement.

The collaboration between Adidas and the German national football team goes all the way back to the 1950s and the team’s first World Cup success.

The switch from Adidas was the “wrong decision”, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.

The move saw “commerce destroy a tradition and a piece of home”, Lauterbach said.

Adidas soll nicht mehr Nationaltrikot im Fußball sein? Statt dessen ein US Unternehmen? Halte ich für eine Fehlentscheidung, wo Kommerz eine Tradition und ein Stück Heimat vernichtet… pic.twitter.com/14N4xWCQJa

— Prof. Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) March 21, 2024

The Nike “swoosh” will replace the Adidas “three stripes” on the German shirt from 2027, under a deal with the DFB that will run through 2034.

Nike also made a “clear commitment to the promotion of amateur sport, as well as the sustainable development of women’s football in Germany”, DFP CEO Blask said.

The timing of the announcement, just months ahead of the start of the Euro 2024 championships in Germany, was wholly “usual”, Blask said.

The kit change will come as a bitter blow to Adidas, which has faced mounting difficulties of late.

“We were informed by the DFB today that the association will have a new supplier from 2027,” the German sportswear group said in a statement.

Fans and Adidas workers alike are expressing shock over the news on social media.

“Adidas” climbed to the top of trending topics on social media platform X shortly after the deal was announced, showing how shocking the news is for German football fans. At time of writing, both “Adidas” and then “Nike” are the 2nd and 3rd top trends respectively.

‘Joint success’

The DFB would “do everything for joint success” with its long-time partner Adidas before the end of the year, DFB president Bernd Neuendorf added in the statement.

The German men’s team under the guidance of coach Julian Nagelsmann will set up base for the tournament at the training complex next to Adidas’s home in Herzogenaurach, in Bavaria.

The men will wear Adidas gear again at the 2026 World Cup, being hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico and Canada, before switching to Nike.

Adidas football kits for 2024

The official German national soccer team jerseys for the upcoming European Football Championship 2024 and the official match ball can be seen at the headquarters of sporting goods manufacturer Adidas AG. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Karmann

Germany’s footballers have hoisted a number of trophies while dressed in gear bearing Adidas’s three stripes. The collaboration between team and kit-maker began in 1954, when West
Germany sensationally beat favourites Hungary to win the World Cup that year.

Since then, the German men’s team have lifted another three World Cups, while the women have two to their name.

The loss of the German kit contract comes after the German group reported its first loss in 30 years earlier this month.

A bitter break-up with artist Kanye West in 2022 and the loss of revenues from his popular Yeezy line have weighed on the brand.

For 2023, Adidas registered a loss of 75 million euros ($82 million), following a profit of 612 million euros the previous year.

Adidas had been paying approximately 50 million euros a year to kit out the German national football teams, according to daily Bild.

The popular tabloid described the switch as an “earthquake” after Adidas unveiled the German national team’s jerseys for this year’s Euros last week. The newly unveiled jersey design also caused some surprise in Germany. Adidas’ redesign for the men’s away shirt replaced the traditional black and red, or green colours with a kit that is bright pink and blue.

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Now widely known as the Summer Fairytale (Sommermärchen), the tournament is remembered as the moment a unified Germany shook off the shadows of its dark past and showed the world a new, modern face.

On the field, the German team coached by Jurgen Klinsmann overcame dire pre-tournament predictions to make it to the semi-finals.

Despite losing in extra time to eventual champions Italy and eventually finishing third, Germany’s performance kick-started a decade of dominance that peaked with the 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil.

Off the field, the tournament changed not only the way the world saw Germany, but the manner in which Germany saw itself.

Philipp Lahm, a key player in 2006 who captained Germany to World Cup glory eight years later, told AFP: “In 2006 we were able to experience the whole nation standing behind the team and giving us energy.

“The celebrations are good. That people come here to Germany and celebrate a big festival together.”

‘Where are all the Germans?’

German sports sociologist and philosopher Gunter Gebauer told AFP the tournament had a sudden and long-lasting impact.

“Before the tournament, the mood in Germany was very, very poor. The economy was not going well. The weather was bad and the football was atrocious.

“And then the World Cup started and during Germany’s first game against Costa Rica, Philipp Lahm scored and the sun burst through — it was almost like something from the Bible.”

Living in a middle-class Berlin suburb, Gebauer saw a neighbour unfurl a German flag from his balcony, previously considered a “taboo” due to the nation’s post-World War II reservations with nationalism.

“From there, we saw German flags and singing the anthem at Germany games — something which just didn’t exist before.”

The dissolving of internal reservations meant World Cup visitors saw a different side to the straight, rule-enforcing Germans familiar from national stereotypes.

“Foreigners who came to Germany were delighted with the German public.

“The English people asked ‘where are all the bloody Germans? We’ve only come across friendly people who are partying everywhere’.”

Wolfgang Männig, a rower who won gold for Germany at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, is now a professor of sports economics at Hamburg University.

‘Feel-good effect’

In an interview with AFP, Männig said while the economic benefits of large events were often negligible, “the feel-good effect was the essence of the 2006 World Cup.”

Before the World Cup, “Germans were not exactly considered world leaders when it comes to being welcoming,” but after 2006 “Germany has improved significantly in international perceptions.”

Albärt, the mascot of the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championships, poses with the tournament’s trophy and a ball at the Allianz Arena stadium, one of the host stadiums that will be called Munich Football Arena during the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championships. Photo: ALEXANDRA BEIER / AFP

“I believe that foreigners see us completely differently, no longer as unenthusiastic, somewhat peculiar people, but as open and happy, which made us more comfortable with how we see ourselves.”

Jan Haut, a sports sociologist at Goethe University, told AFP “the German people became a bit less stiff. They were more comfortable and confident celebrating victories of the national team”.

“What was rather new was that Germans themselves became more aware that in other countries the picture of Germany isn’t as bad as the Germans had thought,” he added.

‘Only football can do this’

While 18 years have passed and both Germany and the world have changed, many parallels remain.

Germany again is wracked by economic uncertainty, infrastructure concerns and fears of poor on-field performances.

Haut said the world’s attention would again shine a light on Germany, for bad and for good.

“In the worst case, there might be some surprises — maybe that people become aware that things don’t work so well in Germany currently, like public transport.”

After the humiliation of two successive World Cup exits in the group stage, Germany have shown signs of life under coach Julian Nagelsmann.

They won just three of 11 games in 2023 but rebounded with strong wins over France and Netherlands in March.

Whatever the team’s results in the tournament, Maennig said Germany could bank on the unifying impact of the national sport.

“As a rower I say this with a bit of sorrow in my voice, but only football can bring people together like this. The cafes and restaurants show the games on monitors and you can sit and watch in a friendly atmosphere.

“It’s really quite enchanting.”