German town a World Cup winner

SHOES and sportswear will be the biggest business winners at this year's World Cup. At some point during the tournament, the tiny Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach could find itself fighting over who to root for - Puma or Adidas.

Will it be Cameroon, with their dynamic new Puma sleeveless jerseys, or the Adidas-outfitted superstars of France? Both companies will gain massively from the footballing spectacular in South Korea and Japan, which is good news for Herzogenaurach, HQ to both firms since 1948.

The brothers Rudolph and Adolph 'Adi' Dassler founded their shoe company together in the 1920s but after a bitter fight in 1948 they parted ways. Rudolph left to set up Puma, Adolph renamed his company Adidas and Rudolph's firm has been playing catch-up ever since.

Adidas has long been Europe's largest sporting goods producer and ranks just behind Nike in worldwide terms. The e6.1bn (£3.8bn) profits it netted last year dwarfed Puma's e462m. Last year's figures also show Adidas growing in North America, the sporting goods world's most important market.

Still, Puma has been leaping ahead in recent years. Since wunderkind chief executive Jochen Zeitz took control in 1993, profits have shown steady increases. In the first quarter of this year, Puma netted a 56% increase in sales and its share price continues to soar in the double-digit percentages. It does not look likely to stop in the near future.

With each investing less and less in marketing during the past year's economic slump, the advertising value gained from the mega-sports event spread across two important markets cannot be underestimated. In response, both companies have chosen the World Cup to debut cutting-edge shoes and jerseys they hope will be worn on soccer pitches from the Japanese island of Okinawa to San Jose.

Cameroon is one of four teams Puma is sponsoring in the World Cup. About half the company's profits come from its soccer boots division, so it has designed a World Cup shoe, called Shudoh, that it hopes is a best seller after the last fans fly home.

Shudoh consoles Puma execs with the fact that, though the official World Cup ball may be a garishly coloured Adidas creation, it will be kicked by a Puma-fitted foot on occasion. But it is a small consolation in an otherwise Adidas-dominated cup. Adidas is the official licenser, outfitter and sponsor of the event. About 40,000 event staff will be outfitted in the company's three stripes, as will 10 teams, including favourites France and Argentina and Germany. It is spending e40m on marketing but it should be worthwhile.

Following France's victory in the last World Cup in Adidas shoes and jerseys, the company replaced Nike as the leading sporting goods company in France.