Nike and Adidas, two of the most well-known names in athletic wear, have battled fiercely with each other since they began their companies in the mid-1900s. Both brands strive to advance sports wear and enhance athletes, but one shall always reign supreme when it comes to style, comfort and overall wearability. Generally, students consider one of the brands to distinguish itself from the other due to differing advantages — for example, Nike’s clothes work for everyday wear, while Adidas focuses on creating durable, training-ready clothing that doubles as casual wear. Adidas uses multiple varieties of technology in its clothing, such as AEROREADY, HEAT.RDY and Tech Fit, which offer specific forms of comfort, depending on the athlete’s intentions while wearing the training outfit.
Adidas creates clothing that Nike cannot compete with when it comes to athletic wear, as the company builds clothing around athletes to enhance both play and comfort. Adidas uses AEROREADY in the majority of its training clothing, offering moisture-wicking and breathability to athletes. Tech Fit uses compression to help muscles work efficiently for longer, keeping ligament fatigue to a minimum. To appeal to non-athletes, Adidas also sets trends in style with its sneakers and everyday clothes. Adidas designed the trending Gazelles, Sambas and Nomads (NMDs) as part of the Adidas Originals line of casual sportswear or athleisure to appeal to consumers who do not immerse themselves in sports, such as academic kids and adults. Adidas also offers quality socks, hoodies and t-shirts for casual wear.
“For comfort, I prefer Adidas, but for style, I would go more towards Nike. Nowadays, I’ve started to lean more towards Adidas [for shoes]. But for style, I would go with Nike for more aesthetically pleasing stuff like shirts and dressing out in general. For sports, I definitely like Adidas — they make their cleats more comfortable and wearable than Nike does,” magnet sophomore Michael Mwenja said.
Adidas, founded in 1949 by Adolf Dassler, produces higher profits than any other athletic apparel company in Europe, establishing itself as an enormous brand and taking second place globally in comparison to other companies of its kind. Athletes widely recognize Adidas for endorsing multiple professional players and successful teams. Players such as Lionel Messi, Damian Lillard, James Harden and Corey Seager represent the Adidas all-star lineup of professional athletes that younger generations recognize. These athletes generally appear in a wide variety of media such as social media, news outlets and sports outlets.
Nike, the Herculean athletic apparel company, sits at the pinnacle of global athletic apparel sales. Nike creates clothing that appeals to a global audience, despite cultural and physical boundaries — a feat that Adidas strives to achieve. Nike utilizes specific technology and threads when formulating their clothing, such as DRI-Fit, DRI-Fit Advanced (ADV) and wick sweats, created with athletes in mind. They also set trends in pop culture, especially in regard to sneakers like Air Jordans, Air Forces, Air Maxes and Nike Dunks. Despite the significant age difference in comparison to Adidas, Nike still competes and forces Adidas to take risks that the company otherwise would not choose.
“I prefer Adidas because they sponsor my favorite soccer team, Real Madrid. My dad also wears a lot of Adidas, so I have a lot of them around me. I think they’ve also been around longer, have also been popularized in music, and I like and listen to a lot of music. Adidas is just all around me constantly, so to me, Adidas is just the better brand,” magnet sophomore Alex Judge said.
In contrast to Nike, Adidas provides clothing for customers with uncommon sizes, such as wider-than-average feet or specific body proportions. The attention Adidas offers to minorities easily outpaces any other company. Nike orients itself toward people with average-sized feet, while Adidas focuses on creating wearable and comfortable shoes for everyone, despite foot size.
In sports sponsorships and footwear, specifically for soccer and basketball, Nike and Adidas compete savagely for sponsorships in these sports, as the two athletic companies sponsor only the best teams and players. Nike sponsors FC Barcelona, the Spanish soccer league (LaLiga) giant, while Adidas sponsors Barcelona’s long-time rival, Real Madrid CF. This shows that the competition between Nike and Adidas even influences sports. Especially since they sponsor rivalries such as the decades-old rivalry of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, a rivalry that has captivated audiences since the feud began, the effects of such a popular rivalry can permeate through the basic aspects of culture without public notice, mainly due to its influence on everyday life.
Adidas and Nike fiercely compete for control of the athletic wear market, proven throughout both companies’ histories of competitive offers over sponsorships and battles for designs. While consumers enjoy both companies, Adidas’ comfort outcompetes any other manufacturer, especially when compared to Nike. Adidas continually creates new designs and influences new concepts that change the way athletes and athleisure wearers view athletic wear.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Memphis Dhirar

Magnet freshman Delaney Albright wears Nike socks with her Adidas Gazelles. The presence of both brands in one outfit showcases the competition between Nike and Adidas.