- DICK'S Sporting Goods and adidas launched "Where It All Kicks Off" on June 9, 2026, a co-branded campaign timed to the FIFA World Cup 2026 arriving on U.S. soil.
- The ad stars Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal, Trinity Rodman, Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, Juanpa Zurita, and Cobi Jones, all adidas athletes, with each scene set inside a DICK'S House of Sport store that magically opens into larger-than-life soccer moments.
- The campaign made its social debut June 9 and hits broadcast on June 11, the same day the first FIFA World Cup 2026 match kicks off.
- Beyond the ad, the DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation is partnering with DonorsChoose to fund up to $250,000 in youth soccer projects for historically underfunded schools nationwide.
DICK’S Sporting Goods and Adidas are going all-in for the World Cup. The two brands dropped “Where It All Kicks Off” on June 9, 2026, a star-packed campaign produced by OBB Media that blends sport, culture, and retail into a single cinematic ride. Each touch of an adidas product inside the DICK’S House of Sport store becomes a portal to a jaw-dropping soccer moment.
Juanpa Zurita gets whisked from the House of Cleats to a rooftop game with Lamine Yamal, the Barcelona phenom who at 18 already has a La Liga title and a European Championship medal to his name.
Trinity Rodman grabs a retro U.S. Denim Jersey and steps inside a soccer video game. Rodman, who signed a landmark $2M+ deal with Washington Spirit in January 2026, making her the highest-paid female footballer in the world, also carries active endorsement deals with Red Bull and Oakley alongside her adidas partnership.
Patrick and Brittany Mahomes browse adidas hoodies before the action finds them, while legendary USMNT icon Cobi Jones quietly strings the whole sequence together.
The grand finale belongs to Lionel Messi, whose adidas lifetime deal, signed in 2017, is widely regarded as one of the most valuable athlete-brand contracts ever. Recent additions to his portfolio (Beats by Dre, Duracell, and Stanley 1913) make him the most commercially active footballer on the planet heading into this tournament.
A young fan laces up the same adidas F50 El Último Tango cleats and suddenly finds himself on the pitch beside the GOAT himself.
This campaign follows adidas’ earlier World Cup push The Backyard Legends campaign featuring Timothée Chalamet, Messi, and Bad Bunny here which sits in comparison to rival Nike’s “Rip the Script” campaign, which features LeBron James and Kim Kardashian.
Takeaways
This is more than a sporting goods ad. DICK’S and adidas are positioning themselves as the cultural front door to the 2026 World Cup, and the casting says it all.
Messi brings global legitimacy. Yamal is the sport’s most exciting young face. Trinity Rodman bridges the gap between women’s football and mainstream pop culture at a moment when women’s sport has never commanded more attention or money. And Patrick Mahomes? That’s adidas and DICK’S explicitly telling American sports fans: if the NFL’s biggest star is excited about soccer, you should be too.
The OBB production approach, turning a physical retail store into a magic gateway, is also a bold retail strategy. It reminds audiences that DICK’S is the place to shop for World Cup gear, wrapping commerce inside compelling storytelling.
The $250,000 youth soccer pledge adds social purpose to the campaign at just the right time.
With adidas running two massive World Cup campaigns (Backyard Legends and now this), is the brand pulling too far ahead of Nike in the soccer marketing war heading into this tournament?
Does pairing Mahomes with World Cup stars signal that American mainstream sports culture is finally embracing soccer, and how might that shift brand investment long-term?
