What's going on at Nike? They lose out on another athlete before LA2028, will they be prepared? Even outside of running with basketball they've lost out on Anthony Edwards to Adidas and Cooper Flagg to New Balance. I guess I should never expect them to sign a prep kid out of high school again, no matter how talented they are (Quincy Wilson).
What's going on at Nike? They lose out on another athlete before LA2028, will they be prepared? Even outside of running with basketball they've lost out on Anthony Edwards to Adidas and Cooper Flagg to New Balance. I guess I should never expect them to sign a prep kid out of high school again, no matter how talented they are (Quincy Wilson).
You really don't understand Nike. They want to own you. It's been that way from the beginning. New Balance wants to support you. Two very different universes.
I'm going to say this again, just for the newbies and those who don't understand this.
No one is buying shoes because Graham Blanks or Parker Valby wears/endorses them. You could interview all 9 million people who live in New York City and I guarantee you literally maybe only 1/10 of1 percent of people who aren't runners would have any idea who either of these people are.
Heck, I'd bet more people could tell you who the top ranked pickelball player is.
Maybe some high school and college runners buy NB because of the Valby endorsement, but even then it's miniscule.
Am I happy they are sponsored? Absolutely. I hope they are given the right coaching, gear and money to succeed in the sport and that seems to be what New Balance is going after, whereas for Nike it's kind of become "who is going to move our sales needle the most"
I'm going to say this again, just for the newbies and those who don't understand this.
No one is buying shoes because Graham Blanks or Parker Valby wears/endorses them. You could interview all 9 million people who live in New York City and I guarantee you literally maybe only 1/10 of1 percent of people who aren't runners would have any idea who either of these people are.
Heck, I'd bet more people could tell you who the top ranked pickelball player is.
Maybe some high school and college runners buy NB because of the Valby endorsement, but even then it's miniscule.
Am I happy they are sponsored? Absolutely. I hope they are given the right coaching, gear and money to succeed in the sport and that seems to be what New Balance is going after, whereas for Nike it's kind of become "who is going to move our sales needle the most"
You are 100% correct.
(though in the case of Valby I know they really bent over backwards to get her and missing out was a big deal for PM and the "boys", for what that's worth.)
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
What's going on at Nike? They lose out on another athlete before LA2028, will they be prepared? Even outside of running with basketball they've lost out on Anthony Edwards to Adidas and Cooper Flagg to New Balance. I guess I should never expect them to sign a prep kid out of high school again, no matter how talented they are (Quincy Wilson).
You really don't understand Nike. They want to own you. It's been that way from the beginning. New Balance wants to support you. Two very different universes.
SML, Femke, Elle, and now Parker and Blanks. That's a pretty solid roster appealing to the US market (even and especially Femke on the LRC board!)
...Not to mention the appeal of the NB brand as a lifestyle shoe brand has way surpassed Nike and even Adidas.
What's going on at Nike? They lose out on another athlete before LA2028, will they be prepared? Even outside of running with basketball they've lost out on Anthony Edwards to Adidas and Cooper Flagg to New Balance. I guess I should never expect them to sign a prep kid out of high school again, no matter how talented they are (Quincy Wilson).
You really don't understand Nike. They want to own you. It's been that way from the beginning. New Balance wants to support you. Two very different universes.
Yeah, I womder if maybe more people are beginning to understand Nike and that's getting the chickens to come home and roost. I have a friend who is pretty high in the NB hierarchy who was at Nike for a long time. He really has never said much about his time there but nothing was complimentary. I asked if he ever saw himself going back to Nike and he said, no, he liked working at a place that had ethics.
What's going on at Nike? They lose out on another athlete before LA2028, will they be prepared? Even outside of running with basketball they've lost out on Anthony Edwards to Adidas and Cooper Flagg to New Balance. I guess I should never expect them to sign a prep kid out of high school again, no matter how talented they are (Quincy Wilson).
You really don't understand Nike. They want to own you. It's been that way from the beginning. New Balance wants to support you. Two very different universes.
I might be wrong, but it appears that by collaring USATF, currently all pro track essentially runs through Nike; employing key WA employees furthers the goal. By singularly controlling track from the top down, athletes, in essence, are secondary, dispensable, controlled puppets in the show being produced.
I'm going to say this again, just for the newbies and those who don't understand this.
No one is buying shoes because Graham Blanks or Parker Valby wears/endorses them. You could interview all 9 million people who live in New York City and I guarantee you literally maybe only 1/10 of1 percent of people who aren't runners would have any idea who either of these people are.
Heck, I'd bet more people could tell you who the top ranked pickelball player is.
Maybe some high school and college runners buy NB because of the Valby endorsement, but even then it's miniscule.
Am I happy they are sponsored? Absolutely. I hope they are given the right coaching, gear and money to succeed in the sport and that seems to be what New Balance is going after, whereas for Nike it's kind of become "who is going to move our sales needle the most"
I think you greatly overlook a second large piece of the puzzle. They are one of the prime stakeholders in putting on the show presented to the public, primarily every four years, and that is a multi-billion media venture.
I'm going to say this again, just for the newbies and those who don't understand this.
No one is buying shoes because Graham Blanks or Parker Valby wears/endorses them. You could interview all 9 million people who live in New York City and I guarantee you literally maybe only 1/10 of1 percent of people who aren't runners would have any idea who either of these people are.
Heck, I'd bet more people could tell you who the top ranked pickelball player is.
Maybe some high school and college runners buy NB because of the Valby endorsement, but even then it's miniscule.
Am I happy they are sponsored? Absolutely. I hope they are given the right coaching, gear and money to succeed in the sport and that seems to be what New Balance is going after, whereas for Nike it's kind of become "who is going to move our sales needle the most"
I think you greatly overlook a second large piece of the puzzle. They are one of the prime stakeholders in putting on the show presented to the public, primarily every four years, and that is a multi-billion media venture.
But all the tentacles surrounding production of the multi-billion dollar media venture may not be tidily summarized in a balance sheet (for example, under ‘marketing). Having such a chokehold may increase the ‘goodwill’ line.
their training facility in Boston is incredible. a lot of east coast athletes don't want to move west, and being a Nike athlete requires living in Oregon.
New Balance has proven you can train in Boston all year, go to Flagstaff for a few weeks before a big event to get the advantage of high altitude training, but you don't have to live in Flagstaff or Boulder year round.
their training facility in Boston is incredible. a lot of east coast athletes don't want to move west, and being a Nike athlete requires living in Oregon.
New Balance has proven you can train in Boston all year, go to Flagstaff for a few weeks before a big event to get the advantage of high altitude training, but you don't have to live in Flagstaff or Boulder year round.
As inconvenient of a truth it may be to some in the sport, distance running (not necessarily mid-distance) is greatly served by living and training at altitude. The evidence is overwhelming, and continues to stack up, down into the high school level. The prime stakeholder seems to now admit it, capitulating with a new altitude training group in Flagstaff.
After reading Voucher's book, Win At All Costs, the way they stood behind Paterno after it was obvious he was part of a rape cover up, the Safe Sport report on Salazar and his rating of Kara (inserting the finger is rape, not merely assault), their part in the Brazilian bribery scandal, and their use of sweatshops I don't know why anyone would have anything at all to do with Nike.
After reading Voucher's book, Win At All Costs, the way they stood behind Paterno after it was obvious he was part of a rape cover up, the Safe Sport report on Salazar and his rating of Kara (inserting the finger is rape, not merely assault), their part in the Brazilian bribery scandal, and their use of sweatshops I don't know why anyone would have anything at all to do with Nike.
I'm going to say this again, just for the newbies and those who don't understand this.
No one is buying shoes because Graham Blanks or Parker Valby wears/endorses them. You could interview all 9 million people who live in New York City and I guarantee you literally maybe only 1/10 of1 percent of people who aren't runners would have any idea who either of these people are.
Heck, I'd bet more people could tell you who the top ranked pickelball player is.
Maybe some high school and college runners buy NB because of the Valby endorsement, but even then it's miniscule.
Am I happy they are sponsored? Absolutely. I hope they are given the right coaching, gear and money to succeed in the sport and that seems to be what New Balance is going after, whereas for Nike it's kind of become "who is going to move our sales needle the most"
I am not disagreeing with what you've written, but hear me out... I ran for a Nike sponsored school in college, and have trained in Pegasus for nearly my entire life (I am 40). I have been so dissatisfied with the Pegs in recent years, and have tried the Vomero, the Infinity RN, and even some of the trail shoes just to try to find my new "go to" in the Nike lineup. I don't like any of them. They just aren't working for me, and I am about a loyal as a customer can be...
Recently, I have seen a lot of younger pro athletes go to NB, and decided to check out their shoes. I would not have done this if it weren't for Valby and Blanks (at the time, he was just NIL). I just figured they have to have some decent shoes if those two are running for NB. Turns out I really, really like the Rebel as a daily trainer. It doesn't last as long as I'd like, but the shoe itself is fantastic. Great for long runs but also allows me to speed it up if I am feeling decent.
So while everyone is different, I think they helped convert me over to NB, at least for now. Maybe there are more of me out there...?
After reading Voucher's book, Win At All Costs, the way they stood behind Paterno after it was obvious he was part of a rape cover up,
To their credit, actually it Mark Parker's doing (who hung out with my college team back in the day) , they took down the Joe Paterno child care building.
their training facility in Boston is incredible. a lot of east coast athletes don't want to move west, and being a Nike athlete requires living in Oregon.
New Balance has proven you can train in Boston all year, go to Flagstaff for a few weeks before a big event to get the advantage of high altitude training, but you don't have to live in Flagstaff or Boulder year round.
As inconvenient of a truth it may be to some in the sport, distance running (not necessarily mid-distance) is greatly served by living and training at altitude. The evidence is overwhelming, and continues to stack up, down into the high school level. The prime stakeholder seems to now admit it, capitulating with a new altitude training group in Flagstaff.
I absolutely agree. every pro group was in Flagstaff in the months before Olympic trials. I'm just saying you don't have to live there 365 days a year to get the benefit of altitude.
After reading Voucher's book, Win At All Costs, the way they stood behind Paterno after it was obvious he was part of a rape cover up,
To their credit, actually it Mark Parker's doing (who hung out with my college team back in the day) , they took down the Joe Paterno child care building.
Eventually. They also eventually renamed some other buildings but not nearly soon enough.
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