China, get your game on: Adidas is bringing Linsanity to you very soon.
The German sports
apparel company plans to roll out the New York Knicks phenom's
jersey across its
network of 6,700 stores in China and expects they'll be a hot-selling item, Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer said in an interview.
Mr. Hainer, who called Jeremy Lin 'no doubt a great athlete,' said the company looks for fresh
talent like his.
Lin's
ascent to basketball stardom was so
unexpected that there was little
merchandise associated with him
anywhere in the world. Big sportswear brands are now
trying to catch up.
Adidas, the world's second-largest sports
apparel company by revenue, has a licensing
agreement with the NBA in China which allows it to capitalize on Lin's star power. It and its peers would surely develop even more, but Lin is still under contract with Nike for another year.
Last week, sneaker freaks and Lin fans were giddy over rumors that Nike was developing a new sneaker for the Chinese-American star, and photos circulated online of a blue-and-orange shoe with 'Lin' on the back. The photos later proved to be false.
Nike brought Lin on a two-city promotional tour in Taiwan when the California native first turned pro in 2010. But the company said on Tuesday that there were no product launches involving Lin to be announced at the time.
Adidas' Mr. Hainer would not say if Adidas is in talks with Lin either.
But Chinese sports
apparel companies are looking to toss their hats into the ring to capitalize on Lin's
unlikely ascent. Peak Sport Products, which has more than 7,600 stores across China, sent executives to the U.S. to meet with Lin about endorsements, according to a report in the state-owned China Daily. The report also said that Qiaodan Sports, based in China's Fujian province, is eyeing Mr. Lin for sponsorship deals.
For now, the jerseys will have to do. David Shoemaker, the NBA's head of China operations, told China Real Time last week that it was 'doing everything possible' to meet 'furious' demand for Lin merchandise.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Lin jerseys and shirts have been a hit. Modell's Sporting Goods, a retailer based in New York, said it has sold around 10,000 jerseys and T-shirts in the past week alone and has orders for more than 160,000 in the coming days.
Laurie Burkitt / Jason Chow