Adidas Bids Farewell to Germany with Limited-Edition Sneakers Amid Nike Takeover

Adidas marks the end of its 77-year sponsorship of the German national football team with a limited-edition sneaker release, collaborating with Overkill to honor its legacy before Nike assumes the contract in 2025.

Adidas Collaborates with Overkill for Euro 2024-Themed Sneakers, Honoring 77-Year Legacy with German Football Team

In a recent report by Complex, Schwanengesang is the German translation of "swan song," a term that potentially extends beyond the duration of Adidas' tenure as the designated sponsor of the German national football team. In 2025, Nike is scheduled to assume the apparel contract for the German team, also referred to as the DFB, for which it paid Adidas $108 million annually in a deal worth twice as much.

Nike will continue to sponsor the organization under this arrangement. Despite the conclusion of Adidas' 77-year patronage of Germany, the company continues to introduce products that pay homage to its football legacy with the country's national team.

Although not an official partnership between the DFB and Adidas, the German boutique Overkill will release a Euro 2024-themed Adidas ZX8000 sneaker that homages the German kits from the same era as the shoe's initial release in 1989.

The shoe is constructed entirely of white and features black, red, and yellow patterns extending to the midsole. Comparable in appearance to footwear that the ultras who supported West Germany at the time would have donned, the ZX8000s resemble something that Jurgen Klinsmann might have worn around the training field.

Overkill Co-Owner Marc Leuschner Designs Final Adidas Sneakers for Germany, Honoring Team Before Nike Takeover

Marc Leuschner, who has an extensive record of collaborations with ZX and is co-owner of Overkill, contributed to the ZX800 project. Leuschner ardently follows football and is an ardent supporter of Germany.

"This was our homage of the team to support them," he says. "We seeded the shoes to all the players on the team, as well as the members of the women's team, too."

Leuschner asserts that they intended to produce the sneakers before the Euro 2024 tournament hosted in Germany. At the time of sneaker production, they were unaware that Germany would switch sponsors the following year.

"For us, as German people, this change is really tough," he says. "It feels really crazy. Since the team has existed, Adidas has been the sponsor. The feeling in Germany was really weird about the change."

The sneaker's design phase was notably abbreviated, and Leuschner speculates that Germany's decision to partner with Nike might have expedited the process.

"The timing and design process was short. We didn't have the normal sampling process. We only did one sample of the shoe," he says. "Later, we got the news of the change from Adidas to Nike, it also pushed the timeline because it can be one of the last Adidas sneakers that come with the colors for Germany. There's a bit more hype, a bit more interesting."

Regarding the sneaker's release, Overkill's online store will conduct an online raffle for the German-themed ZX8000s on June 6 at 10 a.m. CET. The in-store release will occur in Berlin and Cologne on June 8, FCFS, at 10 a.m. CET.⁠ The price of the shoes is 140 euros.

Photo: Olumide Longe/Unsplash