Messi vs Ronaldo. The rivalry that has defined modern football. It’s a story of opposites: Messi vs Ronaldo means Barca vs Madrid, short vs tall, introvert vs extrovert and… Adidas vs Nike.
It seems like a law of nature that Messi plays in Adidas. But get this. For a short amount of time, Nike had both.
Just like they had Federer and Nadal or Lebron James AND Kevin Durant - for a short amount of time, Nike had both Ronaldo AND Messi. Messi wearing Nike shoes just looks weird today. But his first major TV commercial was actually for Nike.
His name will be remembered. But not linked to Nike. Shortly after this commercial was done, Messi signed with Adidas.
It was a crucial moment that defined a whole era. A moment that made sure that the football market share between Adidas and Nike stayed in balance. Then Adidas-CEO Herbert Hainer even highlighted signing Messi as THE top achievement in Adidas’ earnings call with investors.
It shows how much impact a single athlete can have on the fate of a company - or even a whole industry. So what went wrong for Nike - how did they mess it up? Welcome to Athletic Interest and how Nike lost Messi.
The craziest part of the story is that Nike was even competing for Ronaldo and Messi. Adidas used to own football. Nobody in the game took Nike seriously.
In the early nineties, Nike knew nothing about football. But they knew a lot about selling shoes. We already told the story of Nike’s rise in football in our recent World Cup video, so make sure to check this out if you want the deep dive.
The short version is that they signed some of the best teams and players. And shot some truly innovative commercials with them. This one for example was the most expensive in Nike history - up to this point.
It was groundbreaking because of its blockbuster style. And because it showcased an all-star team of players. Nobody had thought about that before.
The reaction of the traditional football world was quite extreme. FIFA denounced the clip, and Danish cinemas even banned it. But it put Nike on the map.
Half a year later, Nike signed the Brazil national team - and football changed forever. Two other important signings that followed were Barcelona and… the Portuguese national team. This is how they found this kid from Madeira - who would never wear Adidas again.
Ronaldo joined Nike in 2003. He is one of few athletes who now have a lifetime deal with Nike - the others being Michael Jordan and LeBron James. When Ronaldo joined Nike, Messi was already on board.
He had moved from Rosario to Barcelona when he was still in middle school - and Barcelona was Nike territory. But three years later, he was gone. So what happened?
As you can imagine, there’s no official version put out by Nike. But some of the people involved talk off the record. Our main source for this story is this book.
Their authors have spoken with former executives at both Nike and Adidas, as well as teammates and coaches of Messi and Ronaldo. Signing the right athlete can make you a hero, but you don’t want to be the one to lose one. There’s a similar story in basketball about who signed Michael Jordan to Nike - with reversed roles.
When asked about Jordan, Phil Knight put it this way: ‘success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. ’ And this applies to the Jordan signing as much as to Messi. Messi’s father also acted - and still acts - as his agent.
At the beginning, he was perfectly fine to have his son wear what everyone else was playing in at Barcelona: Nike gear. But by the time Messi turned 18, the football world knew that he was going to be the next golden boy. Nike was preparing a big campaign to celebrate his first World Cup appearance in 2006.
But before the World Cup started, they learned that Messi was now an Adidas player. There are three versions of why Nike lost Messi. The first and most obvious one is money.
Adidas was simply willing to spend more, while Nike executives didn’t want to get into a bidding war over an 18-year-old. The second reason almost seems ridiculous. The book claims that Messi’s dad asked for more equipment, but neither Nike Spain nor Nike South America got back to him.
A sign for his father that Nike didn’t care enough about his son. Just imagine losing one of the best players in the world over some tracksuits. It sounds a bit too dramatic to be true.
Like one of those anecdotes that get oversimplified in hindsight just to sell a good story. But the last point on the list is verified - and no less crazy. When Adidas announced its partnership with Messi, Nike tried to stop the deal.
They publicly stated that Messi had a binding agreement with Nike. And that they would do whatever was necessary to enforce it. So they took Messi to court.
The only problem was: there was no contract. The only thing they had was a commitment letter. The Spanish court ruled in favor of Messi - and from then on, Messi was an Adidas player.
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Money, a hurt relationship and insufficient legal work. Of the three, the last one is probably the most striking.
You can make a mistake in valuating an asset and some relationships just don’t click - but messing up the legal work is …interesting. The decision paved the way for the Ronaldo and Messi rivalry on the pitch to spill over into the commercial world. Today most comment sections are filled with the GOAT debate.
Back then the brands focused their discussion on who is more marketable. Some argued that Messi’s shy personality would be much harder to sell than Ronaldo's. The debate is still going on today.
Adidas even released a statement after the book was released, denying the allegations that they thought that Messi ‘had no public personality’. While Ronaldo was arguably in the commercial lead for some time, the World Cup has changed things up a bit. But we don’t want to fuel the fight that is likely already going on in the comment section.
One thing is certain though. Messi has benefited massively from his deal with Adidas. The value of his lifetime contract is unknown, but according to Forbes, he was the highest-paid athlete in the world last year.
If you wonder how the future is going to look like, make sure to check out our video about Erling Haaland - and how his decision could shake up the football market.
