Nike is cutting the program at the end of the year. Not official but there has been rumors among the birds at USAs.
I would not be surprised by this. Nike is in transition right now as Phil ages and Wall Street takes control of the brand. Nike cut a lot of support for track & field athletes in the last few years. Internally its a mess with re-organizations and new leadership. I think we're going to see leaner support in the future.
Nike is cutting the program at the end of the year. Not official but there has been rumors among the birds at USAs.
I would not be surprised by this. Nike is in transition right now as Phil ages and Wall Street takes control of the brand. Nike cut a lot of support for track & field athletes in the last few years. Internally its a mess with re-organizations and new leadership. I think we're going to see leaner support in the future.
That makes sense. How many Nike athletes are really providing value to the brand? There isn't a single track and field athlete that can sell lifestyle merch which makes up most of Nike's turnover now. The company will want to continue selling running shoes but how many athletes do they need for that? The only distance star they have right now who has global recognition is Kipchoge, though Cheptegei and Hassan are probably getting closer to that kind of profile. The sad fact is, Nike could cut its support for 95% of its track and field athletes tomorrow and it would have no effect on the brand. Nike, and most other shoes companies, are providing a charity right now. The way to change that is by athletes developing personal brands that can shift product for shoe companies, but distance athletes tend to be too introverted to do the kind of things that would help them in that regard.
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