Why is New Balance signing children to NILs

Money going to parents because their kids are minors has never gone wrong!

And if the amount is inconsequential compared to child stars in movies/music/TV, than all the more reason to reject it as a parent. Why would I want a brand tied to my kid, and all that comes with it, meetings, responsibilities, other needless obligations, just for free shoes? That's my job as a parent to provide those things.

So yes, I also think this is weird. And I hate to put it this bluntly, but if the difference between your kid getting to run and not is a measly NIL deal then you've flat out failed as a parent. You don't have my sympathies.

Because Nike got its a** kicked with an inferior indoor meet last year, reacted by signing 40 kids to the Elite program and now NB is putting together signings 5 at a time.

guarantees these athletes are at NB Grand Prix and the 2 National meets.

very little to do with shoes and clothing, all about putting together the best field at nationals.

I'm sorry, I thought this was America. If someone is going to pay you for a skill, service, or good, why not take the money? What if instead of New Balance, it was McDonalds, and instead of running track, it was flipping burgers?

As someone who was in Middle School when Alan Webb was in High School, if he was sponsored by Nike as a high schooler and selling his own shoes/gear, I would’ve been BEGGING for the entire line for birthdays/Christmas.
See no difference here with what NB is doing.

After seeing the responses I’ll stand by my post. It’s weird. NB is marketing children for their own corporate benefit - and if it’s all for just some free shoes and a little travel support, this makes it worse and not better.

A Cameron Meyers or Hobbs Kessler contract are quite different. These are legitimate world class athletes at the HS level.

It’s a very very cheap way to maybe have a head start with the next big name

Also if it gets more teens wearing New Balance, it’s a gold mine. Win/win

Teens influence other teens more than influencers do. And they’re nowhere near as expensive

Yes. Yes it is.

Some of these kids have bigger “fan bases” than some pros out there. Plus them being in HS makes them more relatable to the HS crowd

yea, Pretty much what it is, I’m an 800m guy who is in contact with some NB guys and nike elite guys and will likely join one or the other going into my junior season. It’s a variation of financial aid in a sense. flights out to race and train at some camps and a gear deal, bc of rules with us being minors we can’t really accept pay, But we get social media exposure for colleges and the ability to hit our skill ceiling faster. But i will say, Nike elite is the better program because of our access to various nike coaches and athletes, while new balance sometimes seems like a costume show. that’s all i’ll say. thanks.

I would be curious about if access to a coach is plus (you expect on average they are better than most HS coaches) or if you just hit the too many cooks problem (between hs, college, and Nike does the athlete just get pulled in too many directions)? Something like a 6 week summer camp as soph/juniors to teach drills and the like seems like that could be a win.

You correct . These kids are suckered to wear NB for no money. Only a ticket to the NB HS National Meet.

ehhh, I won’t lie some of the coaches have a stick up their ass. They train raw talent or people who benefit from basic things like long tempos or 3k work, but whenever they have to deal with someone specific it can create friction as they believe their way is best because they’ve had the most success. It’s easy to get pulled into different directions and on some level a issue is actualizing potential too early and crashing out before touching senior year of college and going pro, which happens a lot if you look at the majority of crazy fast hs guys who are now in college. The camps are great from what i can tell. I’d say though the best bet is to use a connections and go to a pro camp which is what i’m looking at. Justin rinaldi doesn’t have a brand affiliate and he has some of the best talent for my events. For a 5k guy likely a camp in oregon.

As long as they are still clothed, who cares?

So we are to believe you are a HS sophomore with top 800m times trolling Letsrun.....everyone knows only single white men who live in their mom's basements post on letsrun.

The whole point of the NIL deals are to sell gear to the masses, nothing more nothing less. The national meets put on by Nike and NB have standards and entry limits so they aren't trying to increase those numbers.

Also New Balance continues to get in their own way, first they stop sponsoring any cross country events and now this year they aren't even hosting nationals at their own facility. Who the hell wants to go run at the Reggie Lewis center?

Also for the casual observers out there, take a look at the "types" of kids each brand is sponsoring, you tell me if you see a difference.

maybe you can make them contractually obligated to *appear* at your national meet and thereby make it logistically impossible for them to run Nike's meet, but I assume paying someone for a contract that obligated them to run would go beyond what's allowed under NIL and make them a professional?

this is exactly correct. They got no $$$$ and get nothing but gear and forced to race New Balance Nationals

Look at the pathetic number of entries at the Nike Indoor Nationals the last few years and tell me they don’t want to increase those numbers.

NB has figured out that playing a lot of small ball wins. They’ve got a number of very top end American elites, but they’re also lining up the best fields at their meets by throwing little perks at tons of influential HS kids. And every HS kid has to have the backpack no matter how hideous the design is. The fact that the NB meet is crushing Nike despite being at Reggie tells how well their strategy is working.

It is a low risk, potential high reward. Say the athlete becomes a big star in the NCAA, would look like a smart move to already have that prior relationship with them in the business scheme of things. No other shoe company has signed deals with high school athletes, so New Balance decided to make a jump on it

Then why not cover your bases and sign everyone since these signings aren’t real NIL deals?

nike just called it their “elite” and at least they had some standards