Germany: adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden describes Nike's €100m/year offer to DFB as "inexplicable"

In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on 19/04/2024, Bjørn Gulden, CEO of adidas AG, described the bid submitted by Nike and selected by the Deutscher Fussball Bund to equip Germany's national teams for the 2027-2034 cycle as "inexplicable".

To succeed the German brand, which has supplied the German teams' kit for 76 seasons (€50m per year over the period 2022-2026), Nike "made by far the best financial offer" as the "result of a transparent and non-discriminatory tender procedure," according to the DFB on 21/03/2024. According to the German daily Handelsblatt on 21/03/2024, the offer amounts to €100m per season, double what the American brand pays to the Fédération Française de Football, whose kit it supplies over the 2011-2026 cycle.

"Value for money is always something that we analyse, and if the figures that are circulating are correct, then this seems inexplicable to us," reacted Bjørn Gulden, in post since 01/01/2023. While several national federations, including the FFF, have launched calls for tenders to cover a new cycle of rights post-World Cup 2026, Bjørn…