Xbox and Adidas Announce Global Alliance

Press release - Xbox and Adidas Announce Global Alliance - Leading brands unite the worlds of sport and entertainment.

Two global brands at the leading edge of youth culture, Xbox® and adidas, today announced a long-term strategic alliance at X05, the Microsoft® Xbox brand experience for the games and entertainment industry. The worlds of sports and entertainment merge as both companies enter into a series of planned activities and initiatives:

• Xbox 360™ kiosks in adidas stores. Xbox kiosks will be placed in retail locations across the U.S., Europe, Japan, Canada, Asia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand for a variety of activities leading up to the FIFA 2006 World Cup.
• “MTV Goal — Germany 2006.” Xbox will join adidas in supporting the MTV series “MTV Goal — Germany 2006,” which follows the progress of 10 of the globe’s most promising young football talents as they bid to make it into their national squads in time for 2006. The show will be screened beginning mid-November 2005.
• Platform integration. adidas will install content on Xbox 360 consoles, while Xbox will enjoy presence on adidas’ planned FIFA 2006 World Cup mobile portal.
• “Goal: The Movie.” Xbox is supporting “Goal: The Movie” with a series of cross-promotional exercises with adidas.
• Grassroots football events. Xbox will have kiosks at all adidas grassroots football events in the lead up to the FIFA 2006 World Cup.

“The alliance between adidas and Xbox reflects the fact that sports, lifestyle and video games are inextricably linked,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing for Xbox at Microsoft Corp. “Xbox 360 is a place where all three of these elements come together to truly amplify the sport experience. We look forward to working with adidas on this exciting program.”

Richard Prenderville, head of Global Media at adidas, added, “We are really excited by our alliance with Xbox 360. The innovation it is driving is something we believe in at adidas, and our collaboration will excite an entire audience who loves to game indoors and out.”