Just saw Olympian Kate Grace walk into the Dempsey Track before her race rocking a full Nike pro kit...?
Just saw Olympian Kate Grace walk into the Dempsey Track before her race rocking a full Nike pro kit...?
Bang Yeet wrote:
Just saw Olympian Kate Grace walk into the Dempsey Track before her race rocking a full Nike pro kit...?
WTF? Lamont you big dummy!
New Balance had her all sewn up.
She didn't run in Boston today, dammit.
She is wearing her old uniform from the Olympics. Of course she's not going to decide right away.
Nope. It's real. She signed with Nike.
Just checked with a friend running at the meet tonight who confirmed it. Kate Grace to Nike.
This makes the second on-the-rise talent to leave anti-Nike Oiselle for Nike. It seems the best run at their prime for Nike, but start out and then head to pasture with Oiselle.
I'm no fan of Nike, but losing someone like Kate Grace shows Oiselle isn't serious about serious athletes. They want blog fodder and twitter heroes.
Anyone who says they would do otherwise in her position just flat out doesn't get it.
Brozelle wrote:
This makes the second on-the-rise talent to leave anti-Nike Oiselle for Nike. It seems the best run at their prime for Nike, but start out and then head to pasture with Oiselle.
I'm no fan of Nike, but losing someone like Kate Grace shows Oiselle isn't serious about serious athletes. They want blog fodder and twitter heroes.
What it shows, dpish!t, is that Nike has pockets about 1 Billion times deeper than Oiselle.
This is why she dropped Josh Cox. Just like Sam Chelenga. Nike does not deal with Josh. I told you so.
No doubt Nike has more $ than Oiselle, but I at least initially thought Oiselle was a pro-track focused brand.
Not holding onto Grace does seem somewhat indicative of Oiselle's big picture plan. Their most prominent athletes are Goucher (end of career, injured more than not), Fleshman (retired) and Bruce (pregnant for most of her contract). Goucher and Fleshman can't be cheap, though they probably have interest in company and things other than just a salary making up their contracts. Point is - there is money, but it's going to other people.
This, plus the changes to the Oiselle Team classifications (they're ALL vollee now) make it seem clear Oiselle has a different target audience and different focus than supporting Olympians.
Regardless, it's got to be a tough pill for the Oiselle brand to swallow. Though, they've handled it with class.
Disappointed wrote:
Nope. It's real. She signed with Nike.
Hopefully her contract doesn't contain reduction clauses. Will be interesting to see how long she remains at her current level of performance.
Sorry Blow Hoes wrote:
This is why she dropped Josh Cox. Just like Sam Chelenga. Nike does not deal with Josh. I told you so.
If ___ (Noah Lyles, Usain Bolt, whoever you want to choose) was represented by Nike they would talk to him.
They didn't get to being a billion dollar company by caring who an agent is.
Grace was never going to stay with Oiselle no matter how supportive they were or whatever. She ran very well in 2016...very well. She became way more valuable than Oiselle could afford. It's that simple. Personally I expected Adidas or NB to pick her up but insiders have told me that those other companies had already spent a lot of $$ on other athletes and couldn't afford Grace right now.
Kate could have been retained, even with unnecessary contracts with someone like Rothstein or Fleshman. Equity is king and they are saving it for the next soon to be retiree.
I should be clear, I'm not knocking their overall business strategy. Prudent and intended to maximize revenue. I just find their "commitment to elite athletes" distasteful. They no longer have someone who can be considered currently elite.
Lenny Leonard wrote:
Anyone who says they would do otherwise in her position just flat out doesn't get it.
Nah I think everyone understands the concept of a sellout.....
I thought for sure she'd sign with New Balance. They pick up lots of top end US women. She raced in NB spikes the other week too as well.
Bang Yeet wrote:
Just saw Olympian Kate Grace walk into the Dempsey Track before her race rocking a full Nike pro kit...?
It's not "breaking news"...this happened awhile ago. It's just that today was her first opportunity to race in a Nike kit.
Oiselle is investing in the right people now, track is dead and of no use to Oiselle because when an elite makes a team they are wearing Nike anyway. If you want to market a brand these days you go the influencer route more bang for your buck. Kate has no presonality or charisma no brand or anything unique to offer just another runner that just posts about running. Real Runners don't buy because so and so is wearing it they do their research and buy what works for them, who here buys Puma because Bolts sponsored by them?. Better to invest in R&D and make great gear, that's what sells and Influencers to persuade the generic population who don't even know there is track outside the Olympic Games.
Define "awhile ago"? At the UW Preview (her last race before today. Two weeks ago) she was wearing New Balance spikes and a plain black kit.
Oiselle was created for women to fill a gap in better fitting women's running clothing that the shoe companies were not addressing.
Putting together a roster of competitive women was a marketing strategy to give awareness and credibility.Having regional athletes helped with the grass roots efforts.
Maybe not the best selection for athlete development for the future.More like honor the past. Grace was a find but the minute she started to run well, only shoe company money makes sense.
To be honest, the company doesn't need these athletes, focus on quality product. Do some regional team support stuff and market exposure will be fine.