Sportswear Retailer Dportenis Moves to SAP Cloud ERP Private Ahead of FIFA World Cup 2026 Demand Surge

Mexican sporting goods and footwear retailer Dportenis said it is accelerating its digital transformation by moving to SAP Cloud ERP Private (formerly RISE with SAP) as it prepares to capitalize on a surge in sports consumption tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to Bernstein research, the 2026 World Cup could lift global sales for major sportswear brands like Nike and Adidas by 3% to 4% in 2026, driven by surging demand for jerseys, footwear, and fan merchandise.

For the Mexico‑based retailer that lives on branded sportswear, that means the World Cup‑linked demand spike may be short-lived but could end up being a measurable, full‑year growth driver that needs a scalable SAP backbone for assortment, inventory, and pricing.

Retail Meets a Demand Surge Moment

Dportenis’ transformation comes at a time when the sports retail market in Mexico is expanding rapidly. Industry projections indicate the sector will exceed $2.5 billion in revenue by 2026, driven by wellness trends, athleisure adoption, and the continued rise of omnichannel commerce, SAP said, citing Statista research.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026, which is being co-hosted by Mexico, has added a near-term demand catalyst, pushing retailers to rethink how quickly they can respond to spikes in consumer demand across digital and physical channels.

Sergio Osuna, director of digital transformation at Grupo Dportenis, said, “This evolution is a fundamental step in our long-term vision. With RISE with SAP, we not only modernize our technological platform, but we also enhance our innovation capacity with the agility needed to anticipate demands, scale efficient business models, and consolidate a digital ecosystem that redefines our customers’ experience.”

For context, in the Qatar 2022 cycle, Adidas reported a 19% increase in accessories and gear sales in the tournament year, highlighting how World Cup hype lifts not just jerseys but balls, backpacks, caps, and training gear.

Anticipating that kind of short‑window spike, Dportenis is integrating SAP systems for demand sensing, replenishment, and omnichannel execution to keep top‑selling jerseys and sneakers available across stores and e‑commerce.

Why Dportenis is Moving Now

Dportenis’ move to SAP Cloud ERP Private is designed to:

• Integrate core business processes across retail operations
• Automate workflows to improve operational efficiency
• Enable advanced analytics and AI capabilities
• Improve responsiveness to changing customer demand

The company is effectively repositioning ERP as a real-time control layer for retail operations, connecting supply chain, inventory, and customer experience in one system.

As SAP Mexico President Paola Becerra noted, companies leading their industries are treating transformation not as IT modernization, but as “a reinvention of the business.”

Early indicators suggest 2026 demand will start building earlier than 2022: sales of Adidas’s official Trionda World Cup ball are already 219% higher than comparable ball sales at the same point in the prior cycle.

By moving onto SAP now, Dportenis can use this extended pre‑tournament runway to test promotions, refine size curves, and synchronize store and online inventory so the brand is ready when local and international fans start buying months before kick‑off.

From Platform Upgrade to Business Model Shift

For Dportenis, the transformation is not just about upgrading systems. According to its leadership, the goal is to:

• Anticipate demand more accurately
• Scale operations efficiently
• Build a digital ecosystem that enhances customer experience

Dportenis’ move highlights how retail organizations can align ERP strategy with market timing. Events like the World Cup create predictable demand spikes, but capturing that demand depends on inventory visibility across channels, real-time decision-making, and scalable infrastructure, all of which cloud ERP platforms like SAP S/4HANA Cloud enable by combining transactional data with analytics and AI in a unified environment.

In parallel, SAP is also being used in adjacent sports commerce scenarios, such as in-stadium retail and fan engagement, where clubs like FC Bayern Munich are leveraging SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to unify data across more than 50 systems and enable real-time, data-driven match-day operations, including merchandise sales and fan experiences, demonstrating how the same digital core can support both retail demand spikes and live event-driven commerce.

Other non-sports retailers are also proving the value of this journey: in the UK, fashion brand New Look unified ecommerce, loyalty, and finance on a single SAP cloud platform and has reported more than 4 million GBP in savings, along with richer, hyper‑personalized customer journeys across channels.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

SAP is becoming the demand-response control layer. SAP Cloud ERP Private is shifting ERP from a system of record to a system of action, enabling real-time execution across supply chain, inventory, and commerce. In event-driven scenarios, the ability to respond instantly to demand signals directly impacts revenue capture.

SAP enables proactive demand planning, not reactive scaling. SAP’s forecasting, demand sensing, and scenario planning capabilities allow organizations to anticipate predictable spikes and position inventory ahead of demand. This shifts the focus from reacting in real time to preparing in advance for high-confidence demand cycles.

SAP Cloud ERP Private + SAP BTP enables AI-ready retail execution. With SAP as the digital core and SAP BTP for extension and integration, organizations can embed analytics and AI into operational workflows. This turns transactional data into real-time, scalable decision-making across the business.