And
then there were two.
On the field, the 1999 Women's World Cup is moving
quickly toward its climax, the July 10 world championship
game in Pasadena, Calif. The brutal process of elimination
has winnowed a once multinational, intercontinental
field of 16 teams down to the United States of America
and China. Sayonara, Japan. Adios, Mexico.
Dos vidanya, Russia. Alas, poor Denmark, we knew
you well.
But while the players sweat it out on the field, another
bipolar battle for global supremacy is being waged.
The women's cup is just the latest round in the epic
struggle between Adidas and Nike, the perpetually warring
shoe titans.
As China and the U.S.A. pursue the rights to sculptor
William Sawaya's gracefully spiraling championship trophy,
the stakes for Nike and Adidas are vastly greater. Tom
Kain, director of Nike's stateside soccer marketing
efforts, says that current figures indicate that 18
million Americans play soccer at least once a year.
About four million of those folks are serious players,
more likely to shell out bucks for gear--and women and
girls make up more than half of soccer's hardcore players.
"The growth against other, more traditionally American,
team sports has been phenomenal," Kain says.
Worldwide, the sale of soccer shoes alone brings in
$5 billion a year. Nike would dearly love to wrest control
of this tide of cash from Adidas, the venerable German
company that has long enjoyed the lion's share of the
sport's equipment market. The swoosh relies heavily
on sponsorship deals with prominent players and teams.
The triple-stripe brand, meanwhile, plays up its soccer
pedigree and prestigious role as the cup's official
sponsor, while clearly looking over its shoulder at
the American upstart.
"This is extremely important to us," says Nicole Vollebregt,
a Portland spokeswoman for Adidas America. "We're the
world's soccer leader in general, so if we're not the
leader among women as well, there's a problem there."
So, who's winning this marketing death match? A quick
breakdown of the action so far:
