Adidas

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Adidas is one of the most iconic sporting goods brands in the world. Its signature moniker, Adidas, is a household name. It’s often defined as an acronym for the phrase “all day I dream about sports.” While many Adidas customers might find this fact quite applicable to their lives, Adidas is actually short for Adi Dassler, founder and mastermind behind Adidas. On August 18, 1949, Dassler founded Adi Dassler adidas Sportschuhfabrik in the small town of Herzogenaurach, Germany with just 47 employees. Dassler set out to create a new and improved sporting shoe for high-level athletes. The signature three stripes decorated the soon-to-be-iconic shoe and within the next decade, Adidas shoes took off. In 1954, Adidas provided shoes with screw-in studs to the German national football team, leading them to win the 1954 World Cup final against Hungary. The shoe garnered global attention after that.

Today, the company is still headquartered in its hometown of Herzogenaurach, Germany, but it operates globally with over 62,000 employees. Adidas’s purpose and vision has been the same since its founding. Its passion is sport, and “through sport,” says Adidas, “we have the power to change lives.” Countless athletes have found their own purpose, passion, and success with Adidas products. Bo Beamon set his world record long jump in Adidas. Nadia Comaneci scored gymnastics’ elusive 10 in Adidas sportswear. People young and old across the world wear Adidas, whether it's to play in the big game or watch it. Either way, Adidas provides the apparel.