Over lunch, my friend and fellow Sauder student Bianca and I were talking about racial diversity at UBC. Amidst our conversation, the topic of the NFL protesting against police brutality arose. She said that as a response to police violence against Americans specifically African Americans many athletes in the NFL haven’t been participating in the national anthem during their games. Bianca was so passionate about the issue that she went to the length of writing a blog post about it which she related the issue to the fall in the stock of Comcast, Walt Disney, Fox, and CBS. It wasn’t an initial instinct to link sports and business but after further investigation into the billion-dollar sports industry, there was lots of overlap. The eight-year $1 billion uniform deal with Nike and the NBA is currently underway. With 1.19 million total viewers from the previous season, the NBA ranks a large audience.

With this new contract in motion, the road ahead looks great for Nike. However, many hurdles have arisen over the past month. In October, the jerseys began to rip during the games. A simple hold coming from the opposing team and regular play caused gashes in LeBron’s and Ennis’s jerseys. This faulty apparel is leaving viewers questioning the quality of Nikes products. They released a statement saying, “We are obviously very concerned to see any game day jersey tear and are working with the NBA and teams to avoid this happening in the future.”. But mishaps with Nike wear haven’t ended there.

“New-Nike-Jersey-Gets-Ripped-in-NBA-Debut”, Digital image, Christ Creamer, Sports Logos, http://news.sportslogos.net/2017/10/01/new-nike-jersey-gets-ripped-in-nba-debut/

The iconic Nike swoosh has been hidden by big-time players. Steph Curry an Under-armour Ambassador since 2013 was first seen rolling down his socks just enough to conceal the swoosh. Following suit came James Harden who is also rolling his socks after taking the drastic measure of physically cutting his socks from the top until the swoosh was no longer visible. Harden’s $200 million deal with Adidas could be a cause of this sock fiasco. Hiding or rolling sock logos wasn’t seen during the previous season which is evident that this is a unique case subject to Nike. Has this affected Nike’s stock price?

“Nike paid the NBA $1 billion to use its uniforms, and 2 of the NBA’s biggest stars are hiding the swoosh“, Digital image, Chuck Burton, Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-curry-james-harden-hiding-nike-swoosh-logo-nba-uniforms-2017-11

Since the season started as of October 17th the stock price has risen over the past month. There was a slight dip in early November but the company has since recovered. This powerhouse hasn’t yet been hit by the wardrobe malfunctions or swoosh hiding yet. It is the beginning of the season so we have to wait. However, after my previous post about Nike’s expansion in yoga pants nothing is stopping them from taking over the sportswear industry.

WC :432