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Nike Wants German Soccer Team

Nike is going after the German soccer team, trying to bring them on board as their sponsor and take over for the born and bred Adidas. Here are some key notes from the article:

Since 1954, Germany's national soccer team has been wearing shoes from what is considered to be the nation's top brand: Adidas.

But now, American sneaker manufacturer Nike has stepped in to challenge the German company in its own backyard in a bid to become the main sponsor for Germany's national soccer team starting in 2011. German media has called it "the battle of the jersey giants" — a fight for money, image and traditions.

Nine months after hosting the international event, the German birth rate has been boosted by an estimated 10 to 15 percent and the country’s gross domestic product grew by 2.7 percent in 2006. Shares of German sportswear company Adidas are on the rise as well.

"Our goal is to dominate the [soccer] brand by 2010,” Nike marketing vice-president Trevor Edwards told Business Week.

The question now is whether American dollars can “just do it” to oust the traditional German company, which was founded in 1949 by local German shoe maker Adi Dassler in the quaint Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach.

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