World Cup drive fails to lift Nike as China and Europe drag | OneFootball

Nike unveiled its March to May results on Tuesday, closing its 2025-26 financial year. Despite a 2026 World Cup marketing drive in North America, the US sportswear giant’s more than two-year crisis shows little sign of easing. Revenue for the past 12 months was $46.3bn (€40.6bn), down 2%, with net profit down 3%.

Adidas reported €24.8bn of revenue in 2025, up more than 10% year on year. “We are not in football to take part, but to dominate,” Elliott Hill said in late May, speaking to L'Équipe. He has argued that turning a company of nearly 80,000 employees takes time.

For the World Cup in North America, Nike released a film of more than six minutes featuring Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James and Erling Haaland. It also unveiled three new boot models.

The Swoosh is kitting out the United States, England, Brazil, Norway and Les Bleus, who are into the last 16, and its Jacquemus collaborations in France are selling strongly.

Structural problems persist. Annual sales in China fell 13% as competition from Li-Ning and Anta, which has just bought Puma, intensified. Europe was weaker too, particularly in footwear, down 5%, while North America remains the brand’s only market of undisputed leadership.

Nike says its innovation pipeline has been restarted, but developing and scaling new products will not happen in six months. A dozen new shoe models are in the works. Sustained growth and profitability are likely to take longer to return.

Source: L'Équipe