Adidas vs Puma: The Feud That Split a Family—and a Town—Is Coming to TV
A decades-old family rivalry that gave the world two of its biggest sportswear brands is about to hit the small screen.
In a bold new television series backed by the Hollywood production company No Fat Ego, the dramatic story behind the creation of Adidas and Puma will finally be told—with help from rare family archives and home videos. The show will explore the explosive fallout between two German brothers, Adi and Rudi Dassler, whose rift during World War II gave rise to rival empires—and a split that still lingers in their hometown of Herzogenaurach.
Adi, the more reserved of the two, stayed behind during the war to keep their family shoe business running. His brother Rudi, who joined the military and was later detained by Allied forces, returned home to find the partnership beyond repair. What followed was one of the most iconic—and bitter—corporate breakups in history.
Scriptwriter Mark Williams, known for Netflix’s Ozark, is spearheading the writing process. At the Cannes film festival, Williams shared that he’s currently digging through old Dassler family films and memorabilia to bring emotional depth and truth to the story.
“Everyone wears Adidas or Puma, but few people know how personal—and painful—the story really is,” Williams said.
The series aims to explore not only the family fallout but also the historical backdrop, including the brothers’ controversial affiliations during the Nazi era, a subject that will be handled with care. During the war, the brothers’ factory was taken over and repurposed for weapons production—a turning point that fueled their eventual split.
Producer Niels Juul, the founder of No Fat Ego and a collaborator on several Martin Scorsese films, says what drew him to the project wasn’t just the business saga, but the human story—especially the brothers’ early work with American Olympic icon Jesse Owens. Wearing Dassler-designed shoes, Owens famously won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, defying Adolf Hitler’s white supremacist vision on his own turf.
Juul and his team plan to produce the series independently before bringing it to streaming platforms, ensuring they have creative freedom to tell the story honestly and without interference.
“This isn’t just about two companies—it’s about pride, betrayal, loyalty, and legacy,” Juul said. “It’s going to be raw, emotional, and very real.”
Think Succession—but with cleats and track spikes.
