Adidas Says They’ll Only Work With Colin Kaepernick If He Signs to an NFL Team

Amira Rasool
Updated
Adidas will not work with him until he’s signed by the NFL.

Earlier this week, Mark King, the president of Adidas North America, said that the athletic brand would only consider giving former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a sponsorship deal if he were to sign with an NFL team. Colin has not been recruited to a team since he chose to protest police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem at the games. In the time since, his relationship with the football league has been tumultuous at best.

According to SB Nation, during a Q&A at Arizona State University’s Global Sports Summit, Mark addressed activism in sports and mentioned Colin’s highly publicized battle to return to the NFL. Mark revealed that if Colin were to sign to an NFL team, “[Adidas] would definitely want to sign him,” and that this contingency was added because Adidas is not “in the business of activism, we’re in the business of sport.” He followed his remarks by assuring the audience that Adidas fully supports athletes’ rights to fight for causes they believe in. “Allowing our athletes to tell their story, it’s really important to us,” said Mark. “If they’re an activist in a way that brings attention to something that moves the world forward, even if there’s controversy at that moment, we’re really interested in those athletes because I think it represents the world today."

Since the circulation of these statements, fans have noted that several non-athletes have sponsorship deals with Adidas, including model Kendall Jenner and style influencer Hannah Bronfman. In fact, Adidas has a number of notable ambassadors, many of which do not possess the same social capital as Colin. Colin has over 2.4 million followers on Instagram, almost 2 million more than Hannah. In addition, since he began his protest back in 2016, his San Francisco 49ers jersey has seen a massive increase in sales.

This situation is just another example of the risks Colin had to take to stand up for what he believes in. It reveals the financial consequences of athletes who speak out against controversial issues like racial injustice and inequality.

We have reached out to Adidas for comment and will update if we hear anything.

Related: Cardi B Won’t Perform at the Super Bowl Until the NFL Hires Colin Kaepernick Back

Check this out:

See the videos.