Competitors stand to gain from Adidas’ severing ties with Kanye West. However Nike is likely to benefit the most.

If all of a sudden a customer who was buying a couple pairs of Adidas every year now finds themselves with some extra money in their budget every year, the most likely direction they’re going to go with that money is Nike. The dropped deal come in response to West’s controversial behavior, including making anti-semitic comments on Twitter and wearing a White Lives Matter tee to his fashion show. Adidas said it does not tolerate anti-semitism and any other sort of hate speech and that West’s comments and actions were unacceptable, hateful and dangerous as they violated the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.

The termination of the partnership is expected to have a short-term negative impact of up to $246 million on the company's net income in 2022 given the high seasonality of the fourth quarter. Adidas decided to take the hit financially rather than the public relations hit feeling the public relations hit would have had a bigger impact long term on the brand.Adidas is still collaborating with artists like Beyonce and Bad Bunny.