Adidas Bets on a Soccer-Shoe-with-a-Chip

Adidas has made soccer shoes since the 1920s, ruling the sport for much of that time. Archrival Nike, which started ramping up its soccer business in the mid-1990s, has sought to surpass the German company as the sport’s biggest brand by sponsoring top teams like Barcelona and popular players such as Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Now Adidas has unveiled a new play to stay ahead: a shoe that uses an embedded chip to collect and wirelessly transmit information players can use to step up their game.

“We’re able to show you what you did, give you the key metrics of your game, and enable you to compare this to your previous performances, the performance of your friends, competitors, or our global stars,” says Ryan Mitchell, head of the product introduction team in Adidas’s interactive business unit.