Under the agreement with the Beijing Organising Committee (BOCOG), adidas will supply sportswear for all the Beijing 2008 staff, volunteers and technical officials of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as well as the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.
Adidas will also kit out the Chinese Olympic teams for the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
“The Beijing Olympics are shaping up to be the biggest sporting event in Asia ever and we are proud and honoured to be playing such a major role,” said adidas-Salomon CEO Herbert Hainer. “As our fastest growing market, China is tremendously important to adidas, and this agreement will be a powerful contributor to increasing our brand profile with consumers in that market.”
The adidas-Salomon Group has been active in China for more than 20 years and is one of the leading sports brands in the Chinese market. In 2004, adidas-Salomon generated sales of more than B100million in China.
Over the past year, the Group has focused on aggressively expanding its distribution network, which now covers more than 250 cities across China with approximately 1,300 adidas branded franchise stores. adidas-Salomon expects to generate more than B1billion of sales in China by 2010 and to double its business throughout Asia with the completion of the Olympics.
The deal follows hot on the heels of the announcement that adidas will will be an official FIFA partner from 2007 to 2014 in a deal worth $351million, which will cover soccer World Cups in 2010 and 2014.
