The deep integration of global strategy and localization is the development prospect of internationally renowned enterprises. As Chinese football enters a new stage of national strategic and systematic deployment, Adidas joins hands with the 2026 Jiangsu Provincial City Football League, which is a vivid practice of this far-reaching layout.
On January 27, 2026, the world-renowned sports brand Adidas announced that it would become the official strategic partner of the 2026 Jiangsu City Football League (hereinafter referred to as the “League”). This move marks that under the development concept of “In China, for China, Love China”, Adidas further deepens China’s local football layout, empowers mass football events with the world’s top football resource system, promotes the high-quality development of China’s sports industry, and helps all people share the happiness of football.
On the afternoon of January 27, the 2026 Jiangsu Provincial City Football League Business Cooperation Conference was held in Nanjing, and Adidas became the official strategic partner.
Liu Tong, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau, delivered a speech on behalf of the league organizing committee and said that in 2025, the league will work hand in hand with nearly 40 high-quality companies to jointly lay the foundation for the league’s high starting point and high-quality development. In 2026, the league will promote the overall upgrade of the league with higher standards, better services, and more practical measures; work intensively on event services to improve the quality of competitions and participation experience; continue to expand the boundaries of communication and build a full-scenario, multi-dimensional communication matrix; make innovative breakthroughs in the equity system to provide partners with more valuable cooperation solutions; at the same time, more partners with feelings, responsibility, and pursuit are welcome to join the league sponsor list.
Liu Tong, deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial Sports Bureau, delivered a speech on behalf of the league organizing committee
Join hands with the “League” to empower local phenomenon-level events with global resources
In 2025, the national level issued the most important football revitalization document and held the highest-level national football work conference in history, marking that Chinese football has entered a new stage of systematic strategic deployment. Against this background, local competitions represented by the “League” have flourished and become an important bottom-up practice of the national football strategy.
As a phenomenal event in China’s mass football field, the “League” has quickly become a platform connecting city honors and folk football enthusiasm with its “one city, one team” competition system innovation and deep urban emotional connection since its establishment in 2025. Data shows that the total number of live spectators throughout the season exceeded 2.43 million, and the average attendance of 28,000 per game set a provincial league record. The number of online live broadcast viewers exceeded 2.2 billion, and the number of views on related topics on social platforms exceeded 100 billion. It has become a phenomenon-level sports IP that is hotly discussed among the people and sought after by the entire Internet, and has successfully become one of the most influential provincial football events in the country.
The cooperation with the “League” is another in-depth implementation of Adidas’s “global brand, local thinking” strategy. As a leader in world football, Adidas will not only provide financial support for the event, but will also adhere to the concept of “only giving the best to the athletes” and tailor-made competition uniforms, training uniforms and supporting equipment for the 13 participating teams, integrating the world’s top sports technology and design concepts to comprehensively enhance the professional level of the event.
It is worth mentioning that the exclusive jerseys of the 13 teams are designed by the exclusive designers of Adidas Shanghai Creative Center (CCS) to create customized solutions rooted in regional culture for each city. Founded in 2005, the center is the core creative and product development platform for brand localization strategies. The Shanghai Creative Center (CCS) team has deeply explored local needs and culture and created popular products such as the New Chinese Series and the Clover Pet Series. As of now, more than 60% of Adidas’ products sold in China are designed by local teams and 95% are made in China.
Relying on the profound accumulation of local innovation, this cooperation has achieved two-way empowerment of brand resources and local events. In this landmark cooperation, the “League”‘s universal participation characteristics and extensive communication coverage provide the brand with a high-quality carrier to connect with the public, allowing the brand to accurately reach the broad mass base of grassroots events and establish a closer emotional connection with Chinese consumers. At the same time, the “League” works hand in hand with high-quality enterprises including Adidas, and its strength and commercial value in hosting competitions will also be greatly improved, laying a solid foundation for long-term sustainable development.
This cooperation is more rooted in Adidas’ long-term commitment and deep cultivation in Jiangsu, and is another major addition to the development of Jiangsu’s sports industry. Adidas will help the “League” to further connect the love of football in the 13 cities in Jiangsu, so that this football carnival belonging to the public can convey a broader sports spirit, promote the development of regional football culture and youth sports, and become an important link to promote the integration of cultural tourism, business and sports exhibitions.
In 2025, Chinese football will usher in a year of historic change in “the country’s football, the people’s football”. Adidas’s cooperation with the “League” is a vivid practice in response to the country’s strategic direction of stimulating sports consumption and promoting high-quality development of the sports industry. In the future, Adidas will continue to uphold its commitment of “in China, for China, love China”, resonate with the development of national and local football, and help write a chapter in the new era of Chinese football.
On December 1, 2025, the “Adidas Support China Youth Football Development Plan” jointly launched by the China Football Development Foundation and Adidas was released in Beijing.
Deeply rooted in the local area and built together with the development of Chinese football
The relationship between Adidas and Chinese football can be traced back to nearly thirty years ago. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Adidas accompanied the Chinese women’s football team to win the Olympic silver medal and witnessed the glorious moment of the “sonorous rose”. Over the next thirty years, this companionship has never stopped, and has formed an all-round layout from the elite to the grassroots to the youth level.
In July 2025, Yamal attended the 2024-2025 National Youth Campus Football League High School Group (CHFL) National Finals
In the past two or three years, Adidas’s investment has become more comprehensive and in-depth: from supporting the National Youth Campus Football League (CHFL), the Tomorrow Stars Champions Cup and other events, to reaching cooperation with the Shanghai Football Association, and then jointly launching the “Adidas Support China Youth Football Development Plan” and the “Adidas Support China Youth Football Development Plan” with the China Football Development Foundation. “Phoenix Plan”…a series of pragmatic measures to build a systematic layout of “universal foundation + youth training core + technological empowerment”, continue to inject surging momentum into the long-term development of Chinese football, and practice the football concept of “helping professional growth and letting love take root downwards”. Its role as a staunch co-builder of Chinese football has become increasingly clear.
2026 is a big year for global football. Top international events such as the World Cup and popular local events such as the “League” will jointly ignite the national enthusiasm for football. As a leader in the global football field, Adidas will also take joining hands with the “League” as a new starting point to continue to deepen professional and cultural construction empowerment, so that the joy of football can reach more people, and the power of Chinese football can be seen by the world.
In the craze of this football year, Adidas will use practical actions to prove that true globalization means taking root in the local area, understanding the local area, and empowering the local area; and the joy of football will eventually transcend circles and reach everyone who loves life.
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