"Adidas is still far behind the specialist labels, but it's coming up," said Andreas Bartmann, chief executive officer of Globetrotter GmbH, Europe's largest outdoor-products retailer. Hamburg-based Globetrotter, which had revenue of 205 million euros in the year through February, will start selling Adidas hiking boots next year, Bartmann said.

The new 325-gram Terrex Feather Jacket is designed to protect trekkers at heights of up to 6,000 meters. Like all Adidas's performance sports gear, the product will initially only be available in Germany and neighboring Austria and Switzerland, along with Russia, China and Korea. From 2012, all Adidas's outdoor equipment will be available globally.

The problem? UCF has an exclusive $3 million, six-year contract with adidas that requires all coaches and athletes to use the company's shoes, apparel and game equipment.

And now UCF and adidas are at an impasse, leaving an 18-year-old freshman with a famous father caught in the middle.

"When I was being recruited, we talked about it," Marcus Jordan said. "They said they had talked to the adidas people, and it wasn't going to be a problem. I think everybody understands how big of a deal it is for my family."

The deal has strained the relationship between UCF and one of its most important business partners, complicating current contract-renewal negotiations. The university's agreement with the company expires in 2010.

In a bid to make management organization more efficient, the German company also said it has reshuffled senior management duties, with chief executive Herbert Hainer taking on responsibility for global sales. Adidas said net profit for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, fell 93 percent to 9 million euros, or $12.2 million at average exchange rates, from 116 million euros, or $181 million, a year earlier. Sales slid 2.5 percent to 2.46 billion euros, or $3.34 billion, hurt by reduced consumer spending across all brands.

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"The impacts of the economic downturn and repercussions on consumer spending are well documented and certainly continued to influence our performance in the second quarter," Hainer said in a statement. However, Hainer added that the business didn't deteriorate further since the first quarter. "As a result, I believe we have seen the bottom of our financial performance this year," he said.

The 19-year-old up-and-comer, ranked ninth on the World Tennis Association tour, will kick off her new role at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadow, N.Y., which starts Aug. 31. Wozniacki will play tournaments in Adidas by Stella McCartney apparel and footwear and will be featured in promotional and retail materials. Terms of the long-term deal weren't disclosed.

The Adidas by Stella McCartney tennis collection will arrive next month in stores such as Lane Bryant, Isetan, Harrods, Holt Renfrew and Nordstrom, as well as shopadidas.com and sports retailers worldwide. Prices include $175 for the Skynde shoe; $130 for the performance dress and $175 for the tennis image jacket. The tennis collection includes colorful Eighties-inspired skirts combined with feminine ruching and gathering, as well as tops with draped sleeves. Launched in 2005, the Adidas by Stella McCartney collaboration consists of apparel, footwear and accessories for golf, running, gym dance, gym yoga, gym studio, tennis, swim and winter sports.

"For me, it is essential to wear products that combine performance and style," Wozniacki said. "I need to have breathable apparel and footwear that is lightweight, stable and well-cushioned. With the Adidas by Stella McCartney tennis line, I feel like have everything any fashionable female tennis player always dreams about: cutting-edge Adidas technologies combined with Stella's unique designs that actually perform."

Nike and Adidas took the top two spots on the Brand Strength Index (BSI) for the teen respondents and the overall index, scoring even higher with teens than on the overall. Under Armour was No. 3 on the teen Brand Strength Index, more than 80 points higher than on the overall index. The Speedo, Puma and Jordan brands all saw their BSI ratings jump considerably with teen consumers vs. the overall index. Nike sits atop the BSI rankings for both males and females in the teen report, with teen males rating the brand 61 points higher than teen females. Likewise, teenage males rated Under Armour almost 100 points higher than teenage females. Awareness of the Under Armour brand was 13 percentage points higher in teen males than teen females. Puma scored higher with teenage females than it did with teenage males. Puma jumped into the top five for the females, with 82 percent of the female respondents reporting they would be at least “somewhat likely” to purchase the Puma brand again in the future.

Puma AG, the German athletic-shoe maker controlled by PPR SA, said profit was almost wiped out as the company incurred costs to close stores, and said the sportswear market will "remain difficult" in 2009.

First-quarter net income fell to 5.6 million euros ($7.5 million), or 37 cents per share, from 90.1 million euros, or 5.76 euros, the Herzogenaurach-based company said today. The results missed the 77 million-euro median estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The shares fell the most in two months. Puma aims to cut expenses by 150 million euros a year starting in 2011, and its restructuring program resulted in 110 million euros of costs for the quarter, partly to close stores. Puma said it doesn’t expect to report more such costs this year, an outlook that was greeted with skepticism by some analysts.

"We've faced a number of economic and market challenges in the first quarter of 2009," said Herbert Hainer, Adidas's chief executive. "Our results have been materially affected by higher input prices, currency devaluation effects and restructuring costs. Although some of these items will recur again as we go through the balance of the year, I am convinced we will put most of these effects behind us in the current year."

The company also pointed to a drop in the football category after year-earlier sales were boosted by the Euro 2008 soccer tournament.

"We"ve faced a number of economic and market challenges in the first quarter of 2009," stated Adidas Group chairman and chief executive officer Herbert Hainer. "Our results have been materially affected by higher input prices, currency devaluation effects and restructuring costs."

The group also announced further restructuring this year designed to save 100 million euros, or $133.1 million annually. The measures include removing one level of management, the regional office, thus closing its regional headquarters in Europe and Asia, in a bid to increase speed-to-market. Adidas also said it would establish a global retail organization under a chief retail officer to review underperforming stores in the coming months. The wholesale business will similarly be placed under the management of a chief sales officer.