With the 2017-2018 NBA season underway, the NBA has switched this year from Adidas as the official uniform provider to Nike. Nike is a leader of sustainability and innovation, and the jerseys are no exception. Each uniform represents contains approximate 20 recycled plastic bottles in the fabric of every jersey. An added benefit is that the uniforms are able to wick away sweat up to 30% faster.
Nike has taken into consideration circular business models, with up cycling, as 71% of their footwear and apparel lines integrate recycled materials. When producing these jerseys, Hannah Jones, Nike’s Vice President of Innovation Accelerator and Chief Sustainability Officer, stated “For sustainability to be transformative, it should start at the sketchpad and flow through the entire process of making a product, delivering a product and even play a role in the after-life of a product”. Clearly, Nike is finding ways to introduce sustainability into their supply chain.
However, there have been some issues with the new jerseys regarding their durability. In the NBA preseason and in the first official game of the season, there have already been two jersey rips with light contact. One of those rips belonged to LeBron James, the face of the NBA, and one of Nike’s most lucratively sponsored players.
The jerseys are an excellent example of Nike using the Accenuate model, but if there is truly a tradeoff between sustainability and quality it could be detrimental to Nike’s perceptions of brand quality. Nike is all about gear that performs up to the standard of our athletic role models, and if the players take authorship of the brand and complain, it is a huge platform that is voiced to the consumer. The only benefit that would exist amongst this performance issue is that the jerseys are a Lean Green initiative, in the sense that there was very little promotion about the new jersey material. Consumers would become more educated about Nike’s initiative to improve the jerseys from an environmental standpoint due its performance failure. Nike is looking to the issue seriously as the season progresses as it is embarrassing for the brand that their own equipment cannot be relied on by its players.
However, if Nike does not have to remake the jerseys up to their previous standard, there should be some public leeway as they made a great attempt to make official merchandise more environmentally friendly.
Sources:
https://www.eppm.com/industry-news/nike-reveals-new-nba-jersey-made-with-recycled-plastic-bottl/
http://nypost.com/2017/10/19/nike-investigating-why-its-nba-jerseys-keep-ripping/
https://twitter.com/BBallSociety_/status/920477065413120007/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fearly-lead%2Fwp%2F2017%2F10%2F19%2Fnikes-new-nba-jerseys-havent-exactly-been-a-ripping-success%2F:
Hi,
I also who enjoys watching the NBA particularly the Toronto Raptors. I am shocked and excited that Nike was able to achieve the NBA jersey contract through the promise of delivering a sustainable product, what a fascinating business proposition!. The trade-off between sustainability and quality is a significant issue as we have learned in class the average consumer will not buy a product just because it’s sustainable the product must be of high quality too. Nike must find innovative ways to correct the durability issue as professional basketball players engage in extensive contact while playing.
Hello!
This is an awesome post. As an athlete myself and someone who is always interested in contributing to our society and improve the environment, it’s awesome to see companies like Nike take a huge role in sustainability. I wasn’t aware of this new line and I think this could be transpired in other sports and used as an example in the clothing industry as often clothes are not sustainable. I think you made a good point in how important it is that when companies go and create a sustainable line or develop new products that are considered eco-friendly then they also need to deliver the same quality as their other products or they can be easily shamed in the public.