Adidas extend exclusive Major League Soccer partnership

(AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON)

Adidas and Major League Soccer have extended their current partnership until 2018, allowing the sports brand to continue in its capacity as supplier of not only match balls but also team kits for each and every MLS club side.

By contrast, other confederations such as UEFA, CAF, and the AFC choose kit sponsors on a club-by-club basis, giving exposure not only to Nike, Adidas and Puma but also other kit manufacturers such as Lotto, Diadora, Kappa, Mizuno, and Joma.

Whereas Adidas can consider itself a partner of not only the MLS but also soccer's world organising body FIFA and many of its component federations, brand rivals Nike instead plough investment into high-profile publicity drives, such as the "Write the Future" adverts aired during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the current "I am the rules" campaign.