🇩🇪 What does Germany's decision to ditch Adidas for Nike says about the country?

Germany's new €100m-a-year deal with Nike has caused political outrage!

The German national team could barely be intertwined with Adidas any tighter.

Adidas has supplied Germany’s kits for more than 70 years, but the relationship has been much more than just a commercial arrangement.

Indeed, Julian Nagelsmann’s team is using Adidas’s headquarters near Nuremberg as their base for Euro 2024. Adidas has representation on the board of the German Football Association (DFB).

The brand’s founder, Adi Dassler, even sat on the bench for the 1954 World Cup final.

This relationship, however, will come to an end in 2027 when Nike takes over as the official kit supplier to the German national team in a deal worth €100m per year.

For many, the sight of a Germany kit featuring a swoosh and not three stripes will be jarring, but the debate around the switch is about more than just the logos the players will wear. 

This is about Germany’s sense of national identity and how it has ended up enveloped by an increasingly fierce sports apparel turf war.