(Bloomberg) -- After Germany's 2-0 loss to France in Thursday's European championship semi-final, the feeling of defeat may have been just that little more acute in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach.
It's there that Adidas is based. And for the first time in three decades of modern sports sponsorship the company won't have a team playing in the European Championship final. Even worse: when host France and Portugal meet Sunday in Paris, everyone will be wearing jerseys emblazoned with Nike and its ubiquitous swoosh.
The two have battled in the $5 billion global soccer market since the 1990s. And nothing is more attractive to them as top national and club team jerseys.
At least Adidas is winning off the field. The company said it still expects record soccer sales of €2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) this year. That's more than Nike's $2.14 billion and falling.
To contact the authors of this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net, Samuel Dodge in London at sdodge6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Timothy Coulter at tcoulter@bloomberg.net.
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