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Adidas To Become Official NHL Outfitter In 2017-18

NEW YORK -- The NHL and adidas on Tuesday announced a seven-year partnership that will make adidas the official outfitter of on-ice uniforms and official supplier of licensed apparel and headwear for the League starting with the 2017-18 season.

Reebok, a brand owned by the adidas Group, is the NHL's current official outfitter.

In addition, the NHL, NHL Players' Association and adidas announced a partnership for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey that makes adidas the exclusive outfitter for authentic and replica jerseys for the eight-team tournament that will take place in Toronto from Sept. 17-Oct. 1, 2016.

"As important as the excitement for the season is, having a great partner like adidas is what we're all about," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Teaming up with adidas continues our strategy of aligning with major partners who not only share our vision for growing the game and the League, but also putting innovation at the forefront of what we do for our players and our fans.

"This is a big deal for us and we know it is for [adidas]."

Commissioner Bettman emphatically denied that the new partnership with adidas means advertising on NHL sweaters is coming in the near future.

"The fact of the matter is, and I've been fairly vocal on this over the last few years as the subject has come up, we are not currently considering putting advertising on NHL jerseys," Commissioner Bettman said. "There have been no discussions formally or informally with anybody about doing that."

With respect to the World Cup, Commissioner Bettman said there have been some discussions about advertising on jerseys, but nothing is imminent. NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said if it happens it would be for experimentation purposes.

"It goes to the respect we have for the history and tradition of our game, the reverence that fans have for our sweaters and our game," Commissioner Bettman said. "Our sweaters, I think among all the sports, are iconic, which is why previously I've been quoted as saying we certainly won't be the first [to put advertising on jerseys], you'd probably have to drag me kicking and screaming, which would take a lot, a lot, a lot of money, and it's something we're not considering now. Whether or not we choose to, as Don said, experiment with the World Cup may be something else, but the view I just articulated is consistent overwhelmingly with how most owners feel."

Fehr said the players are particularly excited to be associated with adidas for the World Cup of Hockey.

"This is a new entrance for the NHL and NHLPA on the world's stage, if you will, and we wanted a world-class partner with us that is willing to grow with us as we continue to grow the game globally," Fehr said. "It's for that reason that the players are particularly pleased and particularly proud to have adidas on board for this event. It's going to be a great partnership and it's really going to set us off in the right direction for years to come."

Mark King, president of adidas Group North America, said the deal with the NHL allows adidas to partner with a major sports league to further its sports brand in North America. He said it also gives Reebok the opportunity to continue to strengthen its position as a fitness brand, which is in line with its business strategy.

Adidas recently signed Edmonton Oilers rookie Connor McDavid, the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, to a spokesperson contract. King said adidas is planning to add more prominent NHL players to its growing list of professional athletes who serve as spokespeople for the company.

King said signings could be announced within the next two weeks.

"One of the reasons, and there are many, that this is a big opportunity for us is the popularity of the sport not only in America, but in Canada," King said. "North America is a place where this sport is really growing in popularity. Whether it's digital or broadcast, it really gives us an opportunity with the adidas brand to tell sports fans in the largest market in the world that we're a part of this really great game and this really great sport."

King said joining forces with the NHL and NHLPA for the World Cup of Hockey was also of great importance to adidas because of its global initiatives.

"The adidas brand, almost more than any brand in sport, is global," King said. "Gary said one of the things he was really looking for in a partner was the ability to take the hockey message and the NHL message around the world. We're really pleased to help the NHL and the sport of hockey be exposed around the world."

The NHL is also intrigued by adidas' global outreach, which is in sync with Commissioner Bettman's stated goal of encouraging the growth of the game on a worldwide basis.

"Their strength in Europe, in markets like Russia, big hockey markets that are important to us, they can really help lead us to grow that global brand, global business potential that the commissioner has been talking about," NHL COO John Collins said.

Adidas will also be outfitting NHL dressing rooms with high-performance training footwear and apparel.

CCM, which like Reebok is a brand owned by the adidas Group, will remain the NHL's official on-ice equipment supplier for the duration of the League's seven-year contract with adidas.

In addition, adidas will work with the NHL to be present for fan interaction at major League events such as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, the NHL All-Star Game and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"The adidas Group is very committed to hockey," King said.

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Adidas Will Sell More Outstanding Yeezy Inventory

Red Banyan founder and CEO Evan Nierman and Ericho Communications CEO Eric Yaverbaum debate how Adidas managed the Ye controversy on 'The Claman Countdown.'

More of the outstanding Yeezy inventory that Adidas is looking to part ways with will soon go on sale.

Adidas revealed Friday that beginning next week, it would put more of the popular shoe designs from its ex-partnership with Ye, the rapper previously called Kanye West, up for purchase. The sportswear company intends to make donations to several organizations using a "significant amount" of the proceeds like it did last time, according to its press release.

The offloading of the Yeezy products via digital platforms will start Wednesday and will take place in phases. That strategy is meant to "help manage demand whilst ensuring a fair and premium experience for consumers," the company said. 

A split photo of the Adidas logo on a sign and Kanye West attending the Vanity Fair party for the Tribeca Film Festival at the State Supreme Courthouse in New York City on April 21, 2009. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo/Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images / Reuters Photos)

It will mark the second time Adidas has sold some of the Yeezy products it has been sitting on. 

ADIDAS SELLING YEEZY SHOES ONCE AGAIN AFTER CUTTING TIES WITH KANYE

The first happened in May, with Adidas going on to report earlier this week that it had seen a "positive impact" from that initial Yeezy sale. That move partly prompted the sportswear company to change to a "mid-single-digit" revenue drop rate and a narrower €450 million ($499 million) operating loss in its 2023 financial forecast.

A report from the Financial Times that cited unnamed sources suggested the company saw people place roughly €508 million (about $565 million) of orders during the first round of sales it did. 

A sign advertises Yeezy shoes made by Adidas at Kickclusive, a sneaker resale store. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig / AP Newsroom)

Adidas first found itself with heaps of Yeezy shoes and other products in outstanding inventory when it put a stop to its relationship with Ye in October. It reported the apparel was worth $1.3 billion.

ADIDAS REVEALS PLAN FOR YEEZY SHOE LINE

The company said it chose to do so "after a thorough review," pointing to the "unacceptable, hateful and dangerous" antisemitic comments the rapper had made at the time.

Pedestrians pass an entrance to a large Adidas store in Frankfurt, Germany. (Fox News)

Some other companies moved to separate from Ye after his remarks, one of which was retailer Gap. It removed Yeezy Gap items from store shelves and shut down the website associated with the apparel line it formerly had with the rapper. 

ADIDAS FACES YEEZY-FOCUSED CLASS-ACTION SUIT FILED BY SHAREHOLDERS

Adidas said Wednesday that it will send some money that it makes from the Yeezy products to the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change and the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS). Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots football team, started the FCAS a few years ago.

Ticker Security Last Change Change % ADDYY ADIDAS AG 100.11 +1.15 +1.16%

The company's stock finished trading on Friday afternoon just under $102. That price represented a more than 18% increase from where it was 12 months ago.

Adidas Brings In $437M From Yeezy Sneaker Sales, Boosting Q2

Adidas ended its partnership with Kanye West in October.AP

The first sale unloaded roughly 20% to 25% of the Yeezy sneakers that were left stacked up in warehouses, contributing 150 million euros of Adidas' 176 million euros in operating earnings in the April-to-June quarter.

Ohlmeyer, however, cautioned that the Yeezy contribution was smaller than the number made it seem because it did not include many of the company's costs.

Adidas also warned that the first sale included the highest-priced shoes and sold out completely but that it wasn't clear whether the remaining releases would see similar price levels and demand.

The blow-up of the Ye partnership put Adidas in a precarious position because of the popularity of the Yeezy line, and it faced growing pressure to end ties last year as 

other companies cut off the rapper.

The torn-up contract was now in arbitration, "a process that is being taken care of by legal people" for both sides and was surrounded "by a lot of uncertainty," said Gulden, the Adidas CEO.

Asked whether it must pay Ye royalties on the shoes, the company has said only that it will observe all its contractual obligations.

Yeezy revenue from June was "largely in line" with sales seen in the second quarter of last year, Adidas said. The boost has allowed the company to cut its expectations for this year's operating loss to 450 million euros ($493 million) from 700 million euros predicted previously.

On the amount of money given to anti-hate groups, Adidas said the donations were not a fixed percentage of sales but that it had discussed with the recipients what an appropriate amount would be.

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