How The Samba Brought Adidas Back From The Brink

…is Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius and field hockey GOAT Erin Matson. Matson already has an impressive collection of championship rings—let’s see if her boo can get on the board.

Speaking of LA, it looks like cricket will actually be played in New York City rather than Los Angeles at the next Summer Games. It’s the first time the sport has been contested at the Olympics, and the move would help encourage more fans in India to tune in, which could immediately turn the event into a ratings powerhouse.

The most chaotic new job in college sports in NIL director. When the NIL industry became legal overnight, schools needed to find someone to manage the mess. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.

The collectibles industry is making a real foray into women’s sports. After Caitlin Clark’s autographed memorabilia sold out in minutes, it’s clear there’s an appetite for more. 

Cool kids still listen to baseball on the radio. The sport’s pacing makes it audio the perfect medium for maximum enjoyment. Turn the TV off and embrace the theater of the mind.

Angel Reese wore Simkhai, while Suni Lee rocked a little black dress to perfection.

Adidas has taken quite a ride over the past two years, going from Yeezy-induced disaster to back on top of the sports world. OffBall called in one of our favorite writers, Daniel-Yaw Miller from The Business of Fashion, to explain the story of their epic comeback. Take it away Dan!

After its very public break-up with Ye (formerly Kanye West) led to the end of the lucrative Yeezy sneaker partnership in October 2022, Adidas looked like it would be down and out for years. But quicker than anyone expected at the time, the brand has bounced back. Ironically, at the core of every aspect that saved Adidas from the worst period in its 75-year history, was sport itself. I jumped on a plane to Germany to investigate.

I met with Bjørn Gulden, a Norwegian former pro soccer player (whose personal Instagram is a feel-good must-see collection of proud-dad-style selfies with everyone from Pharrell to Messi), who was brought in as Adidas CEO in January 2023 to save the brand.

In an hour-long conversation, Gulden likened his role to that of a soccer manager coming in to save a team in crisis. He realized that the company had shifted too far from its purpose—to serve athletes and sports fans worldwide. His first major decision was to tune up production of the Adidas Samba, a retro soccer shoe, combining its sporting appeal with a high fashion allure thanks to collabs with Gucci, Wales Bonner and cultural superstars like Bad Bunny. It quickly became the most in demand sneaker on the market, as soccer-inspired style took the fashion world by storm. Let him cook now. 

Gulden describes himself as a “sports romantic”and believed to be a true success story, Adidas must show up in all sports. He’s done everything he could to make good on that promise. Cricket? Check. F1? A partnership is coming next year. Track and Field? How’s Noah Lyles, Olympic champion? Women’s hoops? Candace Parker to the rescue. Adidas also revamped its NBA efforts, with Anthony Edwards’ AE 1 sneaker becoming the hottest silhouette on the market.

But in the end, it all comes back to soccer, the brand’s original sport. Gulden instructed his teams to leverage the appeal of rising star Adidas athletes like Jude Bellingham and Trinity Rodman, pushing them forward in edgy marketing campaigns and fashion shoots alongside all-time greats like Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi. Jersey sales got a massive boost from the successes of Adidas teams across the board: Inter Miami got Messi, Real Madrid won the Champions League, Spain won the men’s Euros and Women’s World Cup and Argentina clinched the Copa America. Job done. 

Today, Adidas’ future is looking good again, and Gulden couldn’t have done it without the power of sport.

The Ballon D’Or is the biggest individual award in the biggest sport on the globe. It matters. But for the past two decades, two names on the men’s side—Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—have been so dominant that few others have been able to break through.

On Monday, that changed, with Man City midfielder Rodri becoming just the third non-Messi, non-Ronaldo player to win the Ballon D’Or since 2003.

Rodri wasn’t the only winner, with Barca’s wunderkind Lamine Yamal being named best player under 21, and Barca midfielder Aitana Bonmatí winning her second straight Ballon D’Or on the women’s side of the game, making it a trio of Spanish players sweeping the biggest prizes. For invested Americans, USWNT manager Emma Hayes also received honors.

The Ballon D’Or was the centerpiece of the global soccer conversation for weeks with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. entering the day as the betting favorite to win the award, but it was later reported that he had become aware that he would not take the trophy, and decided to skip out on the ceremony along with his teammates. He’ll probably be in the conversation to win next year, but we’re truly in a new era of football where it won’t be dominated by just two players. Vini has already said he’s ready to show voters they were wrong.

Also, every year, the ceremony is where global superstars go full glam. Barcelona looked amazing while making their entrance, Yamal and streamer iShowSpeed shared a moment before the ceremony, and Natalie Portman worked the red carpet before presenting an award.

gqsports

View more on Instagram

How will life change for the newly crowned king of world soccer? Time will tell. Rodri is already a superstar, but will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2024-25 Premier League season after suffering an ACL injury last month. He’s also a Nike athlete, so don’t be surprised if the Swoosh pushes a media blitz around Rodri as he recovers ahead of next year’s campaign.