Kanye Called It! Adidas Jumps Over Jumpman As Second Most Popular Sneaker Brand
It turned out that Kanye West was onto something when he boldly declared that his Yeezys "just jumped over Jumpman."
That's because Adidas, which endorses his Yeezy kicks, has passed Jordan Brand as the second-most popular sneaker brand in the United States, according to the NPD Group marketing tracking company, as reported by ESPN. Nike, which owns the Jordan Brand, is first.
From January through last month, Adidas captured 11.3 percent of the U.S. market share by dollars, and that's nearly double from the 6.6 percent that the company had during the first eight months of last year.
"I've never seen a brand in the sneaker industry grow this fast," NPD sports industry analyst Matt Powell told ESPN.
Adidas can thank the wild popularity of its Ultraboost line and Yeezys for that. Although Kanye's star power and influence certainly gives Adidas immeasurable appeal and influence over the market, the product offering for his Yeezys isn't as widespread as people might think.
"Kanye is often given credit for the rise," Powell told ESPN, "but his product offering is tiny."
Although Adidas has surpassed Jordan Brand, it still has ways to go to catch up to Nike, which especially flexes muscle in basketball with LeBron James and Kevin Durant as lead endorsers.
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