Puma SE, branded as Puma, is a German multinational company that designs and manufactures athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories.
PUMA is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany & is the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.
The company was founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler and now employs more than 13,000 people worldwide and distributes its products in more than 120 countries.
Puma offers products for Basketball, Football, Running, Training & Fitness, Golf, Motorsports & Sportstyle.
In the past, it sponsored a number of legendary athletes, including Pelé, Eusébio, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthaus, Clyde Frazier, Jim Hines, Boris Becker, Martina Navratilova, Tommie Smith, Joe Namath, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson, Heike Drechsler and Michael Schumacher among others.
Currently, international footballers Cesc Fàbregas, Sergio Agüero, Antoine Griezmann, Hector Bellerin, Yaya Touré, Olivier Giroud, Marco Reus, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suárez, David Silva, Vincent Kompany & many more are sporting Puma football boots.
In terms of football clubs, Puma sponsors Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Independiente, C.D. Guadalajara , A.C. Milan, L.D.U. Quito, Olympique de Marseille, Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bengaluru FC.
National football teams Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, Austria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal and Uruguay and Olympic Handball Champion Denmark are also endorsed.
In Australia’s A-League, Puma sponsors Melbourne City in the 2020/21 Season.
In Athletics (Track and Field), Puma sponsors the Jamaican, Cuban, Bahamas, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, Dominican, Barbados, Portugal, Swiss & Norwegian Athletic Associations. In addition, Puma sponsors the Olympic Associations of Jamaica, Bahamas, Cuba, Grenada and Trinidad & Tobago.
It also has the world’s fastest man and Jamaican track athlete Usain Bolt under contract along with other track and field athletes like Andre Degrasse, Will Claye and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse.
Over the past decades, several world records were achieved by athletes wearing PUMA shoes, such as Heinz Futterer (1954), Armin Hary (1960), Jim Hines (1976), Tommie Smith (1968), Asafa Powell (2005), and Usain Bolt (2009).
In 2018 Puma announced its entrance back into basketball after a break of almost 20 years when the brand appointed musician Jay-Z as Creative Director of Puma basketball.
Marvin Bagley, Deandre Ayton, Zhaire Smith, and Michael Porter Jr. are the first players to join PUMA’s basketball roster and play in performance PUMA basketball shoes.
Also, Puma made its partnership with Netball after 28 years by sponsoring the Melbourne Vixens, the only netball team to be partnered with the global firm.
From 2018 Puma became the official apparel sponsor of New Zealand’s national netball team, the Silver Ferns.
The firm sponsors Indian cricketer Virat Kohli the captain of the India national team, as well as former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum.
Golfers such as Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau and Lexi Thompson are equipped by Puma’s golf brand : Cobra Puma Golf.
In Formula 1, Puma equips the teams of Mercedes AMG Petronas, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing & in addition, Puma also sponsors BMW in all its Motorsports activities.
In order to support its women’s business, PUMA endorses supermodel Cara Delevingne and actress/singer Selena Gomez and in Dec.2014, Rihanna was also named Creative Director, overseeing direction of the womenswear line.
In music, Puma is now also a proud sponsor of the Korean boy band, BTS (band), as of 28 February 2018, they are now one of Puma’s many global ambassadors due to the band’s major rise in fame.
Singers The Weeknd and Big Sean are also brand ambassadors, having created their own collections.
In Australia, AFL Teams- Richmond Tigers and Carlton Blues (who signed a 10 year mega-deal) are both sponsored by Puma.
Australian athletes such as AFL’s: Erin Phillips, Katie Brennan, Jeremy Howe, Scott Pendlebury, Chris Mayne & Jordan DeGoey and Rugby League’s :Jason Taumalolo, Brad Takarangi, Andrew Fafita, Addo Carr & John Asiata can be seen on the pumafooty Instagram Page
