Colin Kaepernick has extended his relationship with Nike (has been with company since ’11) and become the face of their new 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. The campaign debuted on Monday with a simple message that read “believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything” over a picture of Colin’s face. Kaepernick, who has been portrayed as the leader of the NFL player protest movement, has been unsigned (by NFL teams) since the end of the 2016 season. While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, it’s been reported that Kaepernick’s deal is worth “millions per year” + royalties, putting it on par with the contracts held by the NFL’s top players. The deal is expected to include a “Kaepernick 7” line of shoes and apparel.
Howie Long-Short: Nike made the decision to extend Colin and make him the face of this campaign anticipating backlash from the political right, but the company is wisely playing the long game here understanding any negative short-term noise will be far outweighed by future sales gains. Nike’s target client is America’s youth (18-29), not the 60-year-old racist white guy cutting swooshes off his socks, and Colin remains popular with the younger demographic; in fact, his jersey ranked as the 39th (as of Q2 ’17) best-seller among all NFL players despite his absence from an NFL roster. Sacrificing older, low discretionary-income red state buyers for younger, affluent, progressive buyers in blue states seems like a wise decision; even if most Wall Street analysts refuse to say so because they’re avoiding the divisive topic.
Sadly, Nike’s decision to sign Colin wasn’t about protesting racism or social injustice (though, the company would like the media to position it as such), but about the bottom line; as Twitter user @MichaelMirer so perfectly put it, “democratic socialists buy sneakers, too”. If the snark went over your head, Mirer is playing off Michael Jordan’s famous line when asked why he avoids discussions about politics – because “republicans buy sneakers, too.”
Nike (NKE) shares declined -3.16% on Tuesday (to $79.60), making it the worst performer within the Dow Jones industrial average, but the decline is not tied to fears over boycotts related to the Kaepernick news. Adidas (ADDYY, -2.4%) and Puma (PMMAF, -2.62%) were also down on Tuesday, leading us to believe the downturn is more closely related to the NAFTA negotiations.
For what it’s worth, according to Apex Marketing Group, the “Just Do It” campaign generated $43 million in media exposure over its first 19 hours; less than one quarter of the responses were negative.
Fan Marino: Nike’s decision to place Kaepernick at the center of a campaign that kicked off just 3 days before the start of the NFL season can’t be sitting well with league owners. Nike is among the league’s top partners and signed a 10-year deal (through ’28) to become the NFL’s game-day uniform and sideline apparel provider back in February; the same league Kaepernick is currently suing in court over allegations its owners have colluded to keep him unemployed because of his activism. Last Thursday, Colin earned a small victory in his grievance against the league as an arbitrator ruled the case can advance.
While Kaepernick’s involvement will certainly draw the most attention, he’s just one of several athletes represented in the 30th anniversary “Just Do It” anniversary campaign. Serena Williams, Odell Beckham Jr., Shaquem Griffin (Seahawks) and Lacey Baker (skateboarder) are all also featured.
Interested in Sports Business? Sign-up for our free daily email newsletter list, here!
