Theory: Nike called in a code red to Dick's Sport Goods to kill off Foot Locker xc so NXN would reign supreeme

How does this post not have any traction after 15 hours??

I'd guess that most people who work for Nike have no clue what NXN is. NXN is probably the tiniest drop in Nike's marketing budget.

Because everyone in the industry and those with a realistic understanding of business knew that this was going to go down. Only Nike haters and clueless fan boys are getting their panties in a bunch over this. Elliott Hill has Nike back on track and reasserting it dominance.

Footlocker was not just dying, it was dead. Kids on XC only ever talked about NXR and NXN...they barely had a clue about Footlocker.

/thread

How about this, FL was bought by Dicks and the new owners saw this expenditure as a waste of money, so they axed it when they took over. They had no history with the event, so it was an easy decision.

Neither foot locker nor Dicks has been a place that serious distance runners go to buy shoes. They both have a weird selection of running shoes that omit many of the most popular running shoes for distance runners.

That being said, I would not be surprised if Nike had a hand in spiking Foot Locker XC. Not because it would be any big boost to in store sales at Dicks or Foot Locker. But because Nike seems to just instinctively do anything that will boost its brand at the expense of the wider distance running community.

Maybe none of that is true and it's just that there was nobody at Foot Locker in position to make decisions left to care about putting on the event. The purchase by Dicks is just coincidence.

This. When a company purchases another company they immediately look for cost savings. I imagine there were cuts in many places, as said this was likely an easy one for Dick's - Nike didn't need to do anything. I wouldn't be surprised if FL itself wasn't thinking of axing it even before being bought.

This.

Whether we are in high school, college, or masters runners or hobby joggers, if we watched Foot Locker at all, we then hopped into our cars and drove to our favorite running shoe store to buy our shoes, socks, laces, gels, etc.

We did not get all stimulated to go buy anything from Foot Locker.

Agreed. Unless I am looking to change my running attire to designer Jordans, a flat-bill cap and an NBA jersey, Foot Locker has no utility.

Footlocker was primarily shoes sales with running shoes as small part. Dicks shoe revenue is about a quarter of their business. Again running shoes a small subset of that.

If there is easy money to be made then an opportunity was created for someone else to step into the picture. My guess is there isn’t and it has just run it’s course.

Footlocker is dated business that needs to be reinvented or folded into the larger business model. Footlocker by Dicks or something like that until just gone.

the financial model for both NXN and FL is that the entries and meet fees at the regionals pay for the majority of the costs of the national meets. As those entries started slipping for footlocker post pandemic the math didn't math anymore and the sponsor had to start footing more of the bill to maintain the same standard. Nike has unlimited resources and has maintained high entry counts to foot the bill, Foot Locker hasn't. I don't think it was a directive by nike to dicks. If it made money and a marketable value add for the company, it would not have been under scrutiny, instead it was hemorrhaging money.

interesting

I don't think so. Footlocker is really small fries to nike. They probably just saw the meet as a money pit. It would generate them around zero sales. Even in Boston, Dicks barely sales men's running gear and I don't think any spikes. If they do sell spikes, it must be a tiny section in stores.

They can’t handle the truth!

Yep

I don't think it is this deep - they didn't want to spend the marketing money. I would argue Footlocker promoted running which is a net benefit for Nike. How many Footlocker runners were wearing Nike shoes?

It opened the door for Brooks. It will be interesting to see how that goes. Brooks PR is a big player in the outdoor championships.

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