Adidas is on a jaw-dropping hot streak in the American sneaker market. Its latest milestone: leapfrogging Nike-owned Jordan Brand in U.S. footwear market share.

The German sportswear giant has for years been No. 3 behind Nike and Jordan Brand. But it is enjoying a comeback, stealing share from Nike. In the past year, while Nike’s sneaker share dipped slightly and Jordan Brand was flat, Adidas’s share has nearly doubled. It’s why Yahoo Finance named Adidas our 2016 sports business of the year.

View photos Michael Jordan at a Charlotte Hornets game on Nov. 1, 2015. His namesake brand just fell to No. 3 in U.S. sneakers. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) More

According to new numbers from NPD Group, Adidas had an average monthly market share (by dollars) of 11.3% from January to August of this year, putting it atop Jordan Brand, which had 9.5%. Nike remains top dog with 37%.

“I’m amazed at the speed of Adidas’s ascent,” says NPD Group’s Matt Powell.

So, how did Adidas do it?

View photos Nike, Adidas, and Jordan sneaker market share gains. (David Foster/Oath) More

Adidas embraced fashion trend

The entire sports apparel industry is in an extended trend toward casual sportswear, or fashion —clothes that can be worn for sports, but also for everyday wear. (Perhaps you’ve heard the common term for this trend: athleisure.)

Adidas naturally benefits from that trend, since it has always been known for streetwear. But it has also leaned into sportswear even more in the past few years, whereas Under Armour is all about performance apparel (ice cold right now) and Nike “failed to respond” to the trend,” Powell says. (Stock performance of the three companies in 2017 reflects all this.)

View photos Adidas vs Nike vs Under Armour shares in 2017 so far. More

The biggest reason Adidas is flying in America is because of its products: “Boost” running sneakers that people wear for everyday fashion; “Originals” including the classic Stan Smiths and Superstars; and NMD (“nomad” with no vowels), a casual sneaker that has been hot since its release in 2015. “UltraBoost is the greatest example of it,” Adidas U.S. CEO Mark King told Yahoo Finance. “It was going to be the ultimate running shoe, which it is, and now it’s the ultimate fashion shoe. These products can play both, and that’s not easy to do.”

Basketball sneakers in decline

Jordan Brand is named after Michael Jordan, the basketball legend. It has been the most successful signature sneaker line ever. But in 2017, performance basketball sneakers, as a category, have fallen 22% in sales.

And Nike “missed the shift away from basketball,” Powell says.

no end in sight for the continued declines at Nike. US market all about Adidas right now — Matt Powell (@NPDMattPowell) May 8, 2017





Fewer kids are purchasing new basketball sneakers each season because they aren’t wearing them as everyday fashion. Instead, they’re wearing sneakers like Adidas Boost.

That change has been especially debilitating to Under Armour, which has an expensive endorsement deal with NBA star Stephen Curry, and, facing declining sales in key categories, recently said, “We’re pivoting.”

Kanye West?