[heygingersnap]

FRANKFURT, Germany - Forgive the executives at Puma if they are all smiles this week.

It is not often that one of the teams they sponsor captures the World Cup, but Italy's 5-3 win against France on penalties has elevated not just the country, but the company.

And then there is the exposure they got from the 64 games played live on television around the world.

"In 36 out of 64 games, at least one team that was present was wearing Puma," the company's head of corporate communications, Ulf Santjer, said Monday. "That equates to 55 hours of on-pitch action, which is quite significant to us."

Indeed.

Major sports apparel makers like Puma AG, it is fierce cross-town rival Adidas AG and Oregon's Nike Inc., spend millions in euros and dollars and francs to feature their logos prominently on the players who represent countries from Ivory Coast to the United States.

Though none has divulged exactly how much they spend, analysts say it is in the millions. What they get in return is exposure, street credibility and a chance to hitch their brand, and fortunes, to stars such as Ronaldinho, Oliver Kahn and Thierry Henry.

"Before the World Cup started, we had some clear goals for ourselves," Santjer said. "We not only reached them, but surpassed our goals for our brand at the World Cup, and we significantly strengthened our position as one of the top three world leading football brands."

At this year's World Cup, Puma had 12 teams in the tournament, including winner Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Switzerland and Paraguay.

It also was the lone sponsor of teams from Africa and the Middle East, with teams from Angola, Ghana,
Iran, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Tunisia sporting the leaping puma on their uniforms.

Nike was second with eight teams: Australia, Brazil, Croatia, the Netherlands, Mexico,
South Korea, the U.S. and fourth-place finisher Portugal.

Adidas counted six, including second-place France and third-place Germany, as well as Argentina, Japan, Spain and Trinidad and Tobago. England and Sweden wore uniforms provided by Umbro, while Serbia and Montenegro and Ukraine were outfitted by Lotto. Ecuador and Costa Rica were outfitted by Marathon and Joma, respectively.

That is not to say that Adidas and Nike did not fare well. Both companies said that sales of their soccer-related merchandise jumped during the tournament with fans worldwide buying jerseys and shoes of their teams.

Adidas said that the 2006 tournament should help provide more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in revenue from soccer-related products, including shoes and replica jerseys.

Puma expects its sales for 2006 in soccer-related products to be up 40 percent from last year because of the exposure.

Italy jersey's have been flying off Puma's store shelves as the country advanced each round.

"We're all sold out. We've been sold out since last week," said Massimo Granada, 34, a store clerk at a Puma shop in central Rome. "There have been a lot of requests for Italy's shirts, so we should get more in soon."

And with Italy hoisting the cup, Puma is wasting no time in capitalizing on the demand for Azzuri T-shirts and jerseys.

"Next Monday we will be able to deliver the new World Cup T-shirt," Santjer said, but with a difference.

Instead of three stars, it will sport four, one for each title Italy has won.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_...rmany_puma_wcup

[dkstariob]

Puma made the ugliest kits in the World Cup, every nation looked the same. The only thing that was different were the colors. Yes, you did get media coverage...you showed the world how nasty your kits look.

[Hunnytokki]

^
true, lol...
Best jersey imo was England's.

[epark1281]

Puma made the ugliest kits in the World Cup, every nation looked the same. The only thing that was different were the colors. Yes, you did get media coverage...you showed the world how nasty your kits look.

kiks or kits?...i'm confused...

[dkstariob]

kiks or kits?...i'm confused...

Kits are the shirts or jerseys.

[joonage]

^
true, lol...
Best jersey imo was England's.

England's jersey was too plain. The white was too white and the red was too red. That's what I thought.

My favorites were Argentina aways (The Dark blue) and Germany aways (The Red and Black).

Aways always seem nice. Whether it's soccer, basketball, or baseball.

[uws]

the best kit was france's away jerseys. the white ones..there dope.

[Hunnytokki]

I liked the England's white jersey. It looked clean and classy, especially the long sleeved ones.

France's away jerseys were nice.

The Italian jersey's neckline's kinda awkward. it's too high~

[Gitakawaii]

I like Holland's Jersey..the orange and the white one...(even though it's nike)

I also like Swiss,france and spain

[Childlike Faith]

I liked Portugal and France's away jerseys. I like the little collar on some of the jerseys. I think what I loved a lot this WC were the endorsements and ads by Adidas! The Jose+10, that was brilliant. xD

My dad told me when we were watching one of the matches that the founders of Adidas and Puma were brothers. The Puma brother left Adidas and found Puma, becoming a competitor. So it's pretty ironic that they were playing on the same field and Puma's team beat Adidas's team. xD

[Gitakawaii]

Jose is so lucky to be pick as the lil boy in that cf

[zashibear]

The Adidas CF with Jose was really cute and funny. Very effective marketing tool.
I liked the uniforms of England, Portugal, Germany, Spain and Italy. Those were cool. Wonder where I can get some? Really want at least one of these teams.

[dkstariob]

Go on ebay...you'll definitely find some there.

[Gitakawaii]

but sometimes the one on ebay is fake though

anyone know a store in LA that sells soccer jersey?

[Hunnytokki]

try adidas.com...Last time I checked, a lot were sold out though.

[Childlike Faith]

Eurosport probably carries most of the team jerseys.
http://www.soccer.com