I spent a large portion of the weekend in Atlanta getting a feel for recruits' opinions of the three major shoe companies, and some things surprised me.
I polled 22 Five-Star Challenge participants, asking for their choice of either adidas, Under Armour or Nike, and here were the results:
adidas - 12
Nike - 5
Under Armour - 5
It seemed like the more recruits I asked, the more they all said adidas, which completely took me by surprise. We're all under the impression that Nike is king. So when I asked one five-star in particular why he thought adidas won the poll, he basically said it was because of their efforts to get into the grassroots in a way Nike and Under Armour haven't. The whole "#Threestripelife" movement on Twitter and the 7-on-7 tournaments where kids get loaded up with free adidas gear, plus all the new sponsorships adidas has given to AAU-style 7-on-7 teams, has really swayed recruits' opinions, the five-star said.
Some of the other recruits I asked said they've never really had the opportunity to wear Under Armour gear until these Rivals Camps. Nike dominates the market in stores, and adidas dominates the market when it comes to sponsoring high school / AAU-style 7-on-7 teams. So most of the gear these recruits are exposed to are from just those two shoe companies. All of them said, though, that the exposure to the UA gear at these Rivals Camps has really helped their opinion of Under Armour. The words "fresh" and "clean" were thrown around by several recruits as they were getting their apparel.
The main criticism of Under Armour has always been the shoes. Most recruits that I spoke to said they really enjoy the apparel, but have never really been a fan of the UA casual shoe. As for cleats, however, I talked to around 10 recruits after the event, and all 10 of them said they had no issue whatsoever with blisters or anything like that when it came to the cleats. So it sounds like while the casual footwear needs some work, the cleats have made huge strides since they first came out.
So overall, it sounds like there's really not much of a king when it comes to these shoe companies anymore. It seems like it's really come down to who's willing to do the most to get their product in front of these kids. For now, adidas is doing that the best, which is why it dominated my little poll out here in the ATL.
I polled 22 Five-Star Challenge participants, asking for their choice of either adidas, Under Armour or Nike, and here were the results:
adidas - 12
Nike - 5
Under Armour - 5
It seemed like the more recruits I asked, the more they all said adidas, which completely took me by surprise. We're all under the impression that Nike is king. So when I asked one five-star in particular why he thought adidas won the poll, he basically said it was because of their efforts to get into the grassroots in a way Nike and Under Armour haven't. The whole "#Threestripelife" movement on Twitter and the 7-on-7 tournaments where kids get loaded up with free adidas gear, plus all the new sponsorships adidas has given to AAU-style 7-on-7 teams, has really swayed recruits' opinions, the five-star said.
Some of the other recruits I asked said they've never really had the opportunity to wear Under Armour gear until these Rivals Camps. Nike dominates the market in stores, and adidas dominates the market when it comes to sponsoring high school / AAU-style 7-on-7 teams. So most of the gear these recruits are exposed to are from just those two shoe companies. All of them said, though, that the exposure to the UA gear at these Rivals Camps has really helped their opinion of Under Armour. The words "fresh" and "clean" were thrown around by several recruits as they were getting their apparel.
The main criticism of Under Armour has always been the shoes. Most recruits that I spoke to said they really enjoy the apparel, but have never really been a fan of the UA casual shoe. As for cleats, however, I talked to around 10 recruits after the event, and all 10 of them said they had no issue whatsoever with blisters or anything like that when it came to the cleats. So it sounds like while the casual footwear needs some work, the cleats have made huge strides since they first came out.
So overall, it sounds like there's really not much of a king when it comes to these shoe companies anymore. It seems like it's really come down to who's willing to do the most to get their product in front of these kids. For now, adidas is doing that the best, which is why it dominated my little poll out here in the ATL.
