Adidas takes on Nike’s Jordan for top crown in sneaker sales

Global Business

Adidas takes on Nike's Jordan for top crown in sneaker sales

In the sneaker world, Nike is king. In 2016, global revenue from its footwear division came in at almost $20 billion.

Adidas, the world’s second biggest athletic footwear company, brought in a little more than half that amount.

But Adidas has made headway in recent years among sneaker fans.

CGTN’s Karina Huber reports.

Nike’s Air Jordan brand, created by basketball superstar Michael Jordan, first stepped out on the world stage in 1985. They are now considered a classic.

But this year, Adidas jumped over the Jordan brand to become the second biggest athletic shoe seller in America. Sports industry analyst Matt Powell tweeted: “This is an achievement I never thought I would see in my lifetime.”

Adidas has been helped by its popular Yeezy brand created in connection with hip-hop mogul Kanye West. But Nike, which owns the Jordan brand, is fighting back with its own new collaboration.

“Right now, one of the hottest sneakers on the market is the Nike and Off-White collaboration, which includes an Air Jordan One, a Presto, a Vapor Max – and an Airmax 90, and there’s actually going to be 10 shoes altogether” Yu-ming Wu, Sneaker Con cofounder said.

While Nike and Adidas dominate the sneaker scene, SneakerCon also embraces independent brands who try to carve out a niche for themselves in a highly competitive market. 14-year-old Evan Sharma just launched his sneaker label RBLB -short for Right Brain, Left Brain. He hopes to sell them for about $725 a pair.

While it seems like an impossible task to ever unseat Nike or Adidas, one can always dream.