How Nike Lost Steph Curry With One Word š«¢
Plus: Chelsea losses reach Ā£1 billion and Erling Haaland promotes milk.
Welcome to Athletic Interest.
In the world of sports endorsements, few brands can match the appeal and influence of Nike. For decades, Nike has been synonymous with the biggest names in sports, including Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, there is one athlete that Nike let slip through their grasp, and thatās none other than NBA superstar Steph Curry.Ā
This would turn out to be one of Nikeās costliest mistakes. Curry is now the face of one of the most successful athlete shoe lines on the planet and is expected to earn more than $1 billion over the next few years.
Curry, who is now a two-time NBA MVP and four-time NBA champion, was not always a household name. In fact, when he entered the NBA in 2009, he was not even a top draft pick.
To make matters worse, Curry's first few years in the NBA were interrupted by a series of frustrating leg injuries. At the time, Curry was actually wearing Nikes under a deal that expired after the 2013 season.
In the last year of his deal, Curry finally had a moment in the spotlight, leading his Golden State Warriors team to the Western Conference semifinals. The team's best result in several years.
With his deal nearly up, and his stock on the rise, Curry and his Dad went to the Nike HQ pretty much expecting to be offered a lucrative long-term deal.
Instead, Nike committed a series of crucial mistakes that drove Curry into the arms of Under Armour.
As a sought-after talent, Curry and his Dad were expecting to meet with a top Nike official, maybe even the CEO. Instead they were directed to a side office and met by a mid-level marketing director.Ā
The duo were already slightly insulted when the director proceeded to refer to Curry as āSteph-onā instead of āSteph-en.ā A small error, but one that suggested a lack of preparation from Nike.Ā
Then came the final nail in the coffin. During the presentation, Curry began to suspect that Nike had not made him a custom pitch but instead re-purposed an old deck. A suspicion that was confirmed moments later when a slide appeared with Kevin Durantās name instead of Steph Curry's.Ā
While Curry did leave Nike HQ with an offer worth $2.5 million per year, he was offended by the experience and had no intention of signing.Ā
As they walked out the front door, Curryās dad told his son āDonāt be afraid to try something new.ā
Thatās exactly what they did. A short time later, Under Armour began to send free items to Curry and his teammates. Then they put a $4 million per year contract in front of him and offered to make him the face of their brand with his own shoe line.Ā
While Nike did have a matching right on this deal, they decided to pass. Curry accepted and became the face of Under Armour. The next few years would be huge for both parties. Curry transformed into one of the biggest names in the NBA, while Under Armour sales for basketball shoes increased by more than 350%.
Under Armour has kept a tight grip on its superstar ever since. Curry now has an equity stake in the company, and just recently, the duo agreed on a new long-term deal that could see Curry earn $1 billion across several years.
Thatās no surprise, with the Curry Brand currently being one of the most successful athlete shoe lines on the market.Ā
The next step for Curry and Under Armour will be to compete with the likes of Jordan and Lebron. That will not be an easy task, but Under Armour clearly has faith in Curry to capitalise on the opportunity.
As a part of the new deal, Curry will become President of his brand and take greater control over the future of the line.
For now, Nike will just have to sit back and wonder what could have been if they had simply double-checked the Powerpoint slides before that meeting.
š Sports Business Bites
šµ Talking of regrettable decisions, Chelsea may be wishing they hadnāt spent quite so much on the transfer market in January.
The club just reported their finances for the previous year and announced a record operating loss for a Premier League club of Ā£235 million (Ā£121m net.)
That brings the clubās total lifetime losses to more than Ā£1 billionā¦another Premier League record.Ā
This could be bad news for the clubās compliance with the strict Financial Fair Play rules enforced by both UEFA and the Premier League. UEFAās rules punish any team that loses more than ā¬60m over three years.Ā
Despite the threat of non-compliance, Chelsea insist their finances are far healthier than appearances suggest.
According to a club statement, these losses can be traced to āextraordinary expenses and loss of revenuesā caused by the government sanctions against the previous owner Roman Abramovich.
For the majority of last season, Chelsea were unable to collect any money for tickets or merchandise and had their sponsorship deal with Three Mobile suspended. Chelsea argue that these unique circumstances should be factored in when calculating the ātrue extentā of their losses for FFP.Ā
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire also offered some context to the results. He points out that almost Ā£130 million of Chelseaās recent losses can be traced to two one-off expenses. Chelsea paid Ā£50 million to some former directors that helped sell the club to Todd Boehlyās consortium. Another Ā£77 million was also wiped from the company accounts from āwriting downā the value of players. In other words, some of their players became less valuable.Ā
These should be one-off expenses, but that doesnāt mean that Chelsea are completely out of the woods.
The Clubās ā¬300m+ January spending spree was not included in these figures. That number will impact next yearās accounts, a season when Chelsea are unlikely to have access to the financially lucrative Champions League. It, therefore, looks like Chelsea will have a huge financial black hole to fill over the next 12 months.
One option will be to sell players, with names like Romelu Lukaku and Hakim Ziyech expected to leave in the summer. Chelsea could also make up some of the difference by adding new sponsors, a task that will be infinitely harder without access to the Champions League.
š± Social Media Madness
š„ After sealing a big money deal with Nike, it looks like Erling Haaland has found his next big sponsorā¦milk.
Maybe Haaland has been signed by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers? Maybe he plans to open his own milk brand? Or perhaps he just likes the taste?
š² On the subject of cows, Red Bull has just taken skate parks to a whole new level.
Quite literallyā¦