- adidas brings innovation to American Football with the Adizero Horizon; a lightweight cleat engineered with strategically placed studs delivering more powerful braking, sharper cuts and faster acceleration.
- Developed in close collaboration with high school, college and professional adidas partners — headlined by star wide receiver Rome Odunze — the cleat is the ultimate expression of the future.
- Debuted on-field this season by select adidas partners, the cleat will be available more widely later this year.
Today adidas unveils the Adizero Horizon, a football cleat designed to unlock a new level of speed and precision for game-defining moments. Created in close collaboration with former NIL partner and now pro wide receiver Rome Odunze, the Adizero Horizon is the result of a two-year development process inspired by a critical insight: the fastest players need superior braking performance to create separation.
At adidas, we are always looking to create the best for the athlete at speed. Working with elite partners like Rome, we seek out specific ways to enhance their competitive edge, We’ve long prioritized designing for speed, but as the game gets faster, we realized the real unlock is what happens between moments of top speed: the brake, the cut, the burst.Marc Makowski, Senior Vice President of Creative Direction & Innovation at adidas.
In 2023, during Rome’s time at the University of Washington as one of adidas’ first Football NIL partners, adidas’ Innovation team set out on an experimental and collaborative journey to build a cleat that gives players the confidence to brake, cut and accelerate in ways the game hasn't seen.
“As a competitor, I'm always working towards leveling up my performance, so getting to work with the adidas team on the Adizero Horizon has been an incredible opportunity to impact not just my play, but the game itself,” said Rome Odunze. “To be successful on the field, you need speed with confidence, so having a cleat that allows me to make sharper cuts and create more space is huge.”
After years of athlete testing and feedback from Rome and other adidas athletes across the high school and collegiate levels, the Adizero Horizon is ready for the game’s biggest moments thanks to its unique SEPR8 innovations, which include:
- STUDS: The cleat features more studs than any other adidas cleat to date. Most critically, the studs extend up the heel so that even at the most extreme angle of contact, athletes can brake confidently and accelerate smoothly out of their cut.
- PLATE: An interior plate works in conjunction with a bold, metallic exterior plate to provide the stiffening elements needed to enhance energy return. The exterior heel extends from the heel to the forefoot, where it splits into three fingers to facilitate more responsive traction and natural articulation of the foot.
- FOAM: The cleat features the most Lightstrike foam ever in an adidas cleat, strategically molded to work in tandem with the plates to generate energy return without sacrificing comfort. Inspired by track spikes and the importance of the initial steps out of a cut, the rocker point is designed to enable a speedier transition onto the toe.
- UPPER: The three black stripes contrast boldly against the white upper in a design that’s not only visually compelling but is engineered to provide stability and comfort, even in the harshest of brakes.
The Adizero Horizon will be available more widely in Fall 2026, but certain adidas partners, including Indiana University’s Elijah Sarratt, have already starred on-field in the cleat this postseason. The Adizero Horizon will retail for $250 on adidas.com.
ABOUT ADIDAS
adidas is a global leader in the sporting goods industry. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the company employs more than 62,000 people across the globe and generated sales of € 23.7 billion in 2024. For more information, please visit www.adidas-Group.com.