'As the top sportswear brand in the world, Nike has been investing in soccer to increase its international presence. Soccer has about 2 billion fans worldwide, followed by basketball with 1.2 billion, according to sports research consultancies REPUCOM and SPORT+MARKT.'

'Sales of soccer goods will top 4 billion euros in 2012, according to Peter Rohlmann at German consulting firm PR Marketing. He estimates Adidas' market share at 38 percent, with Nike closing in quickly at 36 percent.'

'Adidas said it expects to sell more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.87 billion) of soccer-related gear in 2012, helped by the Euro 2012 championship. Adidas stripes will be seen on six of the 16 teams taking part: reigning champions Spain, plus Ukraine, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Russia.

Nike, with annual sales of more than $20 billion, said it had $1.8 billion in sales from soccer in fiscal 2011. The Nike swoosh will be on five teams: Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Croatia and Poland.'
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/08/us-nike-soccer-idU...
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