Office profile
adidas Headquarters & offices · Herzogenaurach, Germany
adidas · Herzogenaurach, Germany
An office building shaped like a football stadium, a 136-step staircase at its heart, and a 4,000-seat pitch outside the door.
The World of Sports campus on a former U.S. military base, the benefits and 100 years of history in one small Franconian town — then the business. Every number from adidas' own reports, press releases and architects' project pages.
- 52,000 m²Arena office building (2019)
- 136steps in the Arena's central staircase
- 40%of the time corporate staff may work from home
- 47 → 64,938employees, 1949 → 2025
Sources: adidas press releases (2016, 2019) · Annual Report 2019 and 2025 · adidas-group.com “Where We Play and Perform” · Behnisch Architekten project page
Companies / Germany / Sportswear / adidas
THE NEWEST OFFICE · ARENA · 2019
52,000 m² that look like a stadium and hover on 67 columns
Arena is the main entrance to the World of Sports. Behnisch Architekten stacked three floors of open workspace above a sloping landscape; a floating staircase rises through the atrium, and a “main street” on each floor links six kitchen hubs, each with its own materials and colours. People no longer have assigned desks: they pick a desk, a kitchen hub or a focus room for the task at hand.
- 52,000 m² (≈ 560,000 sq ft)
- Space for 2,000+ employees
- Staircase with 136 steps
- LEED Gold
- Design: Behnisch Architekten
- No assigned desks
ARENA by Behnisch Architekten
The 2019 ARENA puts more than 2,000 people under one roof, around open atriums crossed by stairs and bridges.
LACES by kadawittfeldarchitektur
LACES, opened in 2011, links its floors with walkways crossing a large atrium.
Facts: Behnisch Architekten project page “adidas ARENA” · adidas Annual Report 2019 · adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · adidas-group.com “adidas Workplace Concept”
The World of Sports, Herzogenaurach
| Building | Address |
|---|---|
| Arena (main entrance, 2019) | Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach, Germany |
| Laces (2011) | World of Sports, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach |
| Halftime (2018) | World of Sports, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach |
| Spikes (1999) | World of Sports, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach |
| Home Ground (2021) | World of Sports, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach |
Source: adidas-group.com Headquarters (company address) · Behnisch Architekten project page (Arena address) · adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · ZÜBLIN Timber project page (Home Ground) · See them on the map ↓
Source: Behnisch Architekten “adidas ARENA” · kadawittfeldarchitektur “adidas Laces” · COBE “Adidas Halftime” · adidas press release, July 13, 2016. adidas gave Halftime as 14,000 m² in 2016; COBE gives 15,500 m².
Benefits (Herzogenaurach and worldwide)
Corporate employees may work from home 40% of the time and manage their daily hours (Remote Working Concept).
Corporate employees may work from anywhere outside their office location ten days a year.
Open to employees in many countries — almost half the global workforce, excluding Retail.
A bilingual childcare facility (“World of Kids”, opened 2013), parent-child offices and children's camps in school holidays.
A football stadium, beach volleyball, tennis and basketball courts, a climbing tower, a fitness studio, plus lockers and showers for cyclists and runners.
Free shuttle bus to Nuremberg and Fürth; two car parks with 3,500 spaces.
Up to ten weeks at 70% of salary plus two extra paid weeks; up to six months' unpaid bonding time in the first year.
Time off for moving house, marriage, sabbaticals and caring for relatives, varying by country.
Source: adidas-group.com “Where We Play and Perform” (Workplace Benefits) · adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · careers.adidas-group.com Herzogenaurach fact sheet. Exact holiday allowance in Germany is not published.
How adidas keeps people, in its own words
In Germany, employees on parental leave are guaranteed their original positions, filled only temporarily while they are away.
A global performance approach built on clear expectations and continuous feedback.
LinkedIn Learning, Udemy and DataCamp, plus Functional Academies with regular learning days.
Development experiences from first-time people leaders to executives, the Global High Potential program and adidas 360° feedback.
Target for Director level and above, from 39.6% in 2023.
Same country, same grade comparison; adidas aims to keep it below 5%.
Source: adidas-group.com “Where We Play and Perform” · Annual Report 2025, ESRS S1 Own Workforce
Who works here
employees at the end of 2025
employees in Germany (2025)
are under 30
Herzogenaurach colleagues brought together on one campus (2019)
Source: Annual Report 2025, ESRS S1 (headcount by gender, country, region and age) · adidas press release, April 15, 2019
Compare adidas with: Nike · PUMA
Office history: a century in one Franconian town
- 1924 From a laundry room to a shoe factory
Adi Dassler began experimenting in his mother's laundry room. In 1924 he and his brother Rudolf registered the “Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik” in Herzogenaurach.
Source: adidas-group.com, History · “The History of adidas” (adidas magazine)
The Gebrüder Dassler shoe factory, Herzogenaurach, 1928 · Unknown author / Public domain · Wikimedia Commons - 1949 adidas is founded with 47 employees
After the brothers split in 1948, Adi Dassler registered the “Adolf Dassler adidas Sportschuhfabrik” on August 18, 1949, and started work with 47 employees in Herzogenaurach.
Source: adidas-group.com, History · 75 years of adidas factsheet (2024)
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 1998–99 A former U.S. military base becomes the World of Sports
With the town of Herzogenaurach, adidas-Salomon AG bought a former U.S. military base on the edge of town in 1998. In 1999 adidas moved into “Spikes”, a refurbished barracks building.
Source: “The History of adidas” (adidas magazine) · adidas press release, April 15, 2019
The World of Sports campus from the air, 2014 · Nico Hofmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons - 2011 Laces: walkways across an atrium
The Laces building by kadawittfeldarchitektur opened with 1,700 workplaces around a climate-controlled atrium crossed by walkways — the “laces”.
Source: adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · kadawittfeldarchitektur project page
LACES, 2011 · Photo: Werner Huthmacher / kadawittfeldarchitektur - 2013–18 Kindergarten, gym and Halftime
The company kindergarten “World of Kids” opened in 2013 and the fitness studio in 2014. In 2018 COBE's Halftime added a second employee restaurant, meeting rooms and a conference centre for up to 5,000 people.
Source: adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · COBE project page
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it. - 2019 Arena: everyone on one campus
Arena opened in spring 2019 and was inaugurated on August 9, 2019, at the 70th anniversary. With it, all 5,600 Herzogenaurach-based employees worked together at the World of Sports.
Source: adidas press release, April 15, 2019 · Annual Report 2019
ARENA, 2019 · Photo: David Matthiessen / Behnisch Architekten - 2021 Home Ground
A timber building complex around a courtyard with a pool, first used to house the German national football team at UEFA EURO, then for training, meetings and events.
Source: ZÜBLIN Timber project page “Homeground adidas”
No free-to-use photo found yet.Have one? We’d love to add it.
Map: how the headquarters moved
adidas has never left Herzogenaurach: it moved only from the town to a former military base on its northeastern edge.
- 1 · 1924Herzogenaurach (town) — Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik; adidas founded here in 1949
- 2 · 1999World of Sports — Former U.S. military base; first building “Spikes”
- 3 · 2019Arena, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1 — Main entrance of today's headquarters campus
Places: adidas-group.com History and Headquarters · “The History of adidas” · Behnisch Architekten (Arena address). No street address is published for the 1924 factory, so it is shown at the town.
What adidas does
adidas designs and sells sports footwear, apparel and accessories under the 3-Stripes. Footwear is the largest division, at more than half of sales.
Six market segments: Europe, North America, Greater China, Emerging Markets, Latin America and Japan/South Korea. Products in three divisions: Footwear, Apparel and Accessories.
Where the money came from · net sales by market segment, 2025
Source: adidas Annual Report 2025, Income Statement (net sales by segment) · adidas-group.com Headquarters (regional offices)
Source: adidas Annual Report 2025, Financial Highlights and Ten-Year Overview · per-employee figure and share calculated by eciffo
Growth: revenue vs. people
€18.5B → €24.8B
58,902 → 64,938
Calendar years. Net sales and employees at year-end: adidas Annual Report 2025, Ten-Year Overview (2016–2019 continuing operations, after the sale of Rockport, TaylorMade, Adams Golf, Ashworth and CCM Hockey; Reebok divested in 2022). Multiples calculated by eciffo.
Chief executives
CEO.
CEO; previously led Henkel for eight years.
The longest-serving CEO.
Led a turnaround focused on marketing and international expansion.
Founder: Adolf “Adi” Dassler (1900–1978).
Source: adidas-group.com, History
adidas: questions people ask
Where is adidas' headquarters?
At the World of Sports campus, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach, Germany — a former U.S. military base on the edge of the town where adidas was founded in 1949.
Source: adidas-group.com Headquarters · “The History of adidas”
Who designed the adidas headquarters?
Behnisch Architekten designed Arena (2019), kadawittfeldarchitektur designed Laces (2011) and COBE designed Halftime (2018). LOLA designed the outdoor areas of the south campus.
Source: Architects' project pages · adidas press release, July 13, 2016
How big is the adidas Arena building?
52,000 m² (about 560,000 sq ft) with space for more than 2,000 employees. It rests on 67 slender columns and has a 136-step staircase at its heart.
Source: adidas Annual Report 2019 · Behnisch Architekten
How many people work at adidas?
64,938 at the end of 2025, including 8,364 in Germany. In 2019 adidas brought its 5,600 Herzogenaurach-based employees together on the World of Sports campus.
Source: Annual Report 2025 · adidas press release, April 15, 2019
Can adidas employees work from home?
Yes. Under the Remote Working Concept, corporate employees may work from home 40% of the time, and the Working from Elsewhere Policy adds ten days a year anywhere outside their office location.
Source: adidas-group.com “Where We Play and Perform”
What benefits does adidas offer at its headquarters?
A bilingual childcare facility and parent-child offices, holiday camps for children, sports facilities including a 4,000-seat football stadium and climbing tower, a free shuttle bus to Nuremberg and Fürth, and a stock purchase plan open to almost half the global workforce.
Source: adidas-group.com “Where We Play and Perform” · adidas press release, April 15, 2019
Can you visit the adidas headquarters?
COBE's Halftime is described by its architect as the only publicly accessible building on the campus, and part of Arena's entrance area is publicly accessible.
Source: COBE project page · Behnisch Architekten project page
Do adidas employees have assigned desks?
No. The adidas Workplace Concept is activity-based: employees choose a desk, a kitchen hub, a focus space or anywhere in between, depending on the task.
Source: adidas-group.com “adidas Workplace Concept”
Who is adidas' CEO?
Bjørn Gulden, CEO since 2023. Before him: Kasper Rorsted (2016–2022) and Herbert Hainer (2001–2016), the longest-serving CEO.
Source: adidas-group.com, History
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