Nike's Rise To The Top Of Sports
Nike's Rise To The Top Of Sports
Recapping Nike's Epic Journey to $33 billion and World Domination.
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Happy Wednesday — I appreciate you tuning in!
🚨 Quick Word Before Today’s Post: 🚨
I’ve spent this past week in the Southwest hiking, sightseeing, and enjoying the days with family and friends.
On Monday, I hiked down (and then back up) the Grand Canyon with my brothers.
It was a long, hot journey that my hamstrings are still recovering from.
During the trek, my mind was rolling but I had some insights I wanted to share before getting into today’s post.
There are multiple ways to the top of a mountain, the key is to just pick one and start climbing.
It’s impossible to know the complete optimized way to the top — that’s why it’s important to be aware of where you’re at in the journey. You’ll be able to improve based upon this awareness.
The funny thing is…once you’re at the top of the mountain it’s only a short amount of time before you see an even taller mountain you want to climb.
Life is a journey of mountain climbs, just keep going and make sure to enjoy the views along the way.
Today’s post is on the shorter end, but you’ll enjoy the story as there was a lot I never knew about Nike when putting it together.
Let’s dive in 👇
Nike is the most powerful sports brand in the world.
Today it's worth over $33 billion, but it wasn't always that way.
Nike's Rise To The Top in Sports
Blue Ribbon Sports was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964.
Bowerman was Knight's track and field coach at the University of Oregon before the idea was manifested in physical form.
Origin Of the Name
Knight was looking for a new name after breaking ties w/ a Japanese manufacturer.
He liked the name Dimension Six, but wasn't sold on it…
Jeff Johnson, the company's 1st employee, told Knight he'd seen the word "Nike" in a dream.
He called the office on the day the patent was due and they never looked back.
But a logo was needed...
The Nike Logo
Phil Knight went to Portland State and hired the first graphic arts student he could find.
Carolyn Davidson.
She charged $35 for the iconic "Swoosh" logo, worth $26 billion today.
What's cool though:
Knight awarded Davidson 500 shares of Nike stock (worth $1m today).
She still hasn’t sold the shares, reportedly.
Just Do It!
The story behind it is dark...
Serial Killer Gary Gilmore, said "Let's do it" right before a firing squad executed him in 1977.
Dan Wieden changed "Let's do it" to "Just do it" for Nike's first TV commercial in 1987.
Michael Jordan
Air Jordan was 100% centered around MJ:
• sneakers
• apparel
• own brand
Nike offered him $500k/yr in 1984 (3x what competitors were offering).
He took the deal and helped turn the Jordan Brand into a $4.7B enterprise.
Marketing Is Their Playbook
Nike spends $2B a year on marketing.
They endorse 51 of the 100 highest-paid athletes in the world:
• Lebron
• Serena
• Ronaldo
• Tiger
• Melo
• Nadal
• Neymar
So powerful, athletes are first-name known.
Nike’s Newest Athletes
Investing in future stars has always been the model for Nike.
Potentially overpaying early in their careers, pays dividends down the line.
• Ja Morant
• Luka Doncic
• Kyler Murray
• Naomi Osaka
• Kylian Mbappe
• Scotty Scheffler
• Youssoufa Moukoko
• Giannis Antetokounpo
All of the athletes listed above have multi-million dollar deals with Nike.
But here's what's interesting...
The average Nike athlete receives a small amount of cash ($5–10k) and credit towards merchandise 2x that.
Nike Runs the Sponsorship World.
Official Sponsor of:
— Team USA
— NBA
— NFL
— MLB
Their logo is behind 52% of all Division 1 FBS football teams.
Nike in the Future
They have filed 7 trademark applications for the metaverse including:
— Just Do It
— Jumpman
— Air Jordan
They also acquired RTFKT, a company that makes digital sneakers.
Investing at IPO
If you invested $1,000 in Nike's IPO it would be worth over $900,000 today.
The stock has done seven 2-for-1 splits and is currently trading for over $115 today.
Nike doesn't just dominate sports...
Nike is the most valuable apparel brand in the world.
Have a great day, we’ll talk on Friday.
Peace,
AP
I’ll be visiting Zion National Park (Utah) to end the week. Let me know if there are any good spots you recommend.
Here’s a related article you might find interesting 👇
It breaks down the sponsorship world in college sports.
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