Adidas hosted a community event called Ground Paris in the Les Halles district, featuring BMX, skate and 3×3 basketball competitions for the public to participate in. “By engaging these sports and the local community, we are not only showing them the brand and getting them excited about Adidas, but we are also showing them the possibilities of the sport,” says Kerryn Foster, vice president and general manager of specialty sports at Adidas. “We are particularly focusing on sports like skate and BMX, which are new to the Olympics, to ensure we can showcase them not only at an elite level, but also attract participation from regular consumers.”

Know your place

Alex Greenwood, co-founder of sports collective Inmotion, warns brands to tread carefully when entering the market. “It’s a delicate balance. Many of these sports are also lifestyles and cultures, and we’re often concerned about tokenization when brands engage in a lightweight way.” She points to skateboarding as a sport that is particularly controversial. Pro skater Tony Hawk said Reuters in a 2021 interview that the Olympics need skateboarding more than the sport needs the game, while skate collectives like Skate Manchester criticised companies for entering the space purely for profit without supporting the wider community. While authentic brands like Supreme and Palace were conspicuously absent from the Olympics context.

For Corey Hill, head of global sports marketing at Oakley, it’s about putting relationships first rather than partnerships: “While we will always strive to have the best competitive athletes, that’s not the only thing we look for. We want to partner with people who give back to the community, resonate culturally and leave a strong and engaging digital footprint.” He adds that some of these relationships have now lasted over a decade, including with track and field athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim, runner Andre De Grasse and surfers Caroline Marks and Gabriel Medina. They’re also already looking to the future by actively investing in flag football, which will make its historic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“We support breaking, surfing and skateboarding, among others, because we believe we can make a real difference in these areas, alongside shared values,” says Annika Bizon, Marketing and Omnichannel Director at Samsung UK and Ireland. Last September, the phone company announced a unique long-term partnership with Skateboard GB, the governing body for skateboarding in the UK, to encourage participation from skateboarding communities. They are also working with athlete Karam Singh to encourage people to take up the sport after this year’s debut.

Comments, questions or feedback? Send us an email to [email protected].

More on the topic:

The rising social media stars of the Olympics that brands need to know

Is patriotism still sellable in fashion?

Why beauty brands should focus on the Olympics