Sports megabrand Adidas is weighing a move to lower the team-sports profile of its Reebok unit, The Post has learned.
The move may first be seen in the NHL where, sources said, Adidas has recently asked the NHL for permission to replace Reebok as its official uniform supplier with its brand.
In fact, in locker rooms during this week’s NHL Stadium Series games at Yankee Stadium, the cold-weather gear handed out to players for the Rangers, Islanders and Devils was Adidas brand — not Reebok.
The NHL told players to cover up the Adidas logo — including those on T-shirts and underwear — when the media is in their locker rooms, because the NHL has not approved a supplier change, two sources close to the situation said.
Reebok’s exclusive contract with the NHL expires after the 2016-17 season, a source said, although a change could occur sooner.
An Adidas spokeswoman, in a statement, said that “there are no plans to change on-ice branding with the NHL at this time.”
Adidas bought Reebok in 2005 for $3.8 billion — but Reebok has been disappointing recently.
CBC Sports reported earlier this month that Adidas was considering asking the NHL if it could make the switch.
“Reebok is shrinking to a woman’s fitness brand,” the source said. “Don’t be surprised if Adidas sells Reebok to [brand collector] Iconix in five years.”
Removing Reebok from the athletic sportswear space represents a dramatic fall.
Nonetheless, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and his brother, Eli, still endorse the brand.
Reebok even was the NFL’s official supplier before Nike inked a five-year deal in 2012.
The NBA, too, had Reebok as its official uniform and apparel supplier until 2006, when Adidas decided to replace the contract with one that made Adidas the official supplier.
A move by Adidas to take over the NHL deal could come with a request to extend the deals for as many as 10 years, one source said.
If that’s the case, look for upstart Under Armour and others to compete for the deal, the source said.
For the last several years, Reebok and Adidas have been fighting a losing battle with Nike for the soles of Americans.
Nike, from 2005 through 2012, increased its US footwear sales 75 percent, to $6.3 billion, according to Sporting Goods Intelligence.
Adidas, meanwhile, over the same period, saw its footwear sales rise a more modest 35 percent, to $1 billion.
Reebok’s US footwear sales fell 40 percent, to $597 million, over the period.
Adidas in September said the North American Reebok president, Uli Becker, was leaving after 23 years so it could revive the brand.
“When Adidas bought Reebok it was a schizophrenic as a brand,” Sporting Goods Intelligence President John Horan told The Post, referring to its presence in fitness and sportswear. “The right idea is to focus on people in studios buying Lululemons,” Horan said.