Critical Analysis of Nike's Sponsorship in USA Sports and Its Impact

This critical reflective paper analyzes Nike's sports sponsorship strategies within the United States. The report explores Nike's significant partnerships with major sporting events and organizations, including the NBA, NFL, and the US Olympic Committee. It examines the financial aspects of these sponsorships, highlighting the substantial investments and potential returns. The paper delves into the impact of these sponsorships on Nike's brand image, market reach, and overall business performance. Furthermore, it discusses the benefits of sports sponsorship, such as increased revenue and brand recognition, while also acknowledging potential drawbacks, such as the constraints placed on athletes and the possibility of negative publicity. The report draws on various sources, including news articles, industry reports, and academic research, to provide a comprehensive overview of Nike's sponsorship activities and their implications for the company and the sports industry as a whole. The paper concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for future sponsorship strategies, emphasizing the importance of long-term partnerships and the strategic alignment of brand values with sponsored events.

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Critical Reflective Paper
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Table of contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
About Nike.................................................................................................................................2
Sponsorship of Nike in the USA................................................................................................2
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................4
Reference....................................................................................................................................6
Appendix....................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The paper discusses sponsorships that are required in sports. According to Tsiotsou,
Alexandris and Bettina Cornwell (2014), sponsorship is considered as an act of providing
support to an event. It is a way for companies to promote itself and increase its revenue.
Sports sponsorship refers to the endorsement provided to sports teams and events that can
help in the promotion of the company. This paper sheds light on the sponsorship provided by
Nike in the sporting events of USA. The paper highlights the events in which Nike have
made its sponsorship available and the impact it has on the business and brand image of the
company.
About Nike
Nike is an American corporation that manufactures and designs footwear, sports
equipment, sportswear and other related accessories. Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight
established the company in 1964. The headquarters of the company is situated in Oregon but
the company serves all around the world, providing sponsorships to various sports
organisations and individual sportsperson via their agents. The revenue of the company is
US$34.35 billion as of 2017. This is largely due to the partnership it has made with the USA
sporting department. Nike has volunteered itself to be the primary sponsor of sporting events
across the US (Nike.com 2018).
Sponsorship of Nike in the USA
Recently, it has been seen that Nike has become the main sponsor for sporting
activities that are held in the USA. In 2015, the company took over the sponsorship of the
NBA, one of the biggest sporting events that take place in USA and Canada. Prior to Nike,
Adidas sponsored the association. The signing of this brand means that the NBA will get

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$125 million a year from Nike to endorse their products (Dailymail.co.uk 2018). This can be
considered as a huge bonus for the NBA and the infrastructure of the association can improve
at a spectacular level. The fact that Nike took over sponsorship from Adidas before the
expiration of its contract proves that Nike needed to get more sponsorship deals in the
country.
The fact that the Nike logo will appear on the jerseys of the players signify that the
company is willing to implement promotional strategies so that they can improve their image
in the country. It is believed that such strategy can help Nike as well as NBA to develop a
new business based on merchandising the products. The game can grow globally due to the
reputation of Nike as the world leader in sports apparels. Such was not the case during the
time when Adidas was the sponsor. Apart from the NBA, Nike took over sponsorship of NFL
in 2012. The appearance of the logo in the jerseys of the NFL teams suggests that the
globalisation of games played in the USA is a long-term process that has been the target for
Nike (Espn.in 2018). It is required to understand the extent to which, a shoe manufacturing
company can appeal to the world about the popularity of such sports and make people around
the world play it as an important game.
From the point of view of the NBA teams, the switching of apparels does not come as
a huge shock or a disappointment for the owners of the franchises. This is mainly because the
shift of the products was forecasted for quite some time and the teams are excited to get a
new identity (FoxSports.com 2018). It has also seen that Nike had been the sponsor for Tiger
Woods, a pro-golfer from the US. Such sponsorship indicates that the company provides
sponsorships to not only a team or an organisation, but also to individual players. The
concept of globalising the brand along with the sport comes to mind after witnessing such
promotional activities. In this regard, it can be said that most people around the world play
golf; hence, the fact that Tiger Woods is one of the most famous golfers in the world plays an

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important role in the decision of Nike to sponsor him. The same cannot be said while being
sponsored by companies such as Underarmour.
It has also seen that in 2014, Nike had also confirmed a sponsorship deal with the
athletes that represent the USA in the Commonwealth Games and in the Olympics. Reports
suggest that Nike has struck a deal with the US track and field event managers until 2040.
Along with them, the company have an extended contract signed with the US Olympic
Committee until 2020 (Teamusa.org 2018). This can be a major step forward in making the
company even more famous on a global level as the Olympics are considered as the biggest
sporting event in the world. The winter and Summer Olympics that will be held 2018 and
2020 will see the US athletes endorse shoes and apparels manufactured by Nike (Fortune.com
2018).
However, despite the sponsorship of the associations and the individual players, the
sponsorship of Nike has its setbacks. Reports suggest that some of the comments made by
Tiger Woods on Nike do not provide evidence of the fondness he has for the company (Do,
Ko and Woodside 2015). This may be because the company does not allow endorsing of
another brand in an advertisement as per the contract it has with the players and association.
This can hamper the quality of performance of the team and the players as players may find
themselves bound to only one contract. The lengthy deals made with the associations may
have a huge positive impact on the sports for increasing its popularity on a global level.
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that sponsorship can bring in about an increase in income
and reputation for the business organisations. It can help the athletes draw inspiration from
the activities that are done by the company. Sponsorship also helps in a proper advertisement
of products as new products launched in the market can be endorsed by the sportspeople

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supporting the company. However, sports organisations need to ensure that the deal made
with these sponsorship organisations are for long-term and provide the added benefit that is
required for the improvement of the sports franchises.

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Reference
Dailymail.co.uk. 2018. Nike to replace adidas as NBA kit sponsor in exclusive eight-year
deal. [online] Available at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-3119118/Nike-replace-Adidas-NBA-kit-
sponsor-exclusive-eight-year-deal.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].
Do, H., Ko, E. and Woodside, A.G., 2015. Tiger Woods, Nike, and I are (not) best friends:
how brand's sports sponsorship in social-media impacts brand consumer's congruity and
relationship quality. International Journal of Advertising, 34(4), pp.658-677.
Espn.in. 2018. Sources: NBA, Nike have near-$1B apparel deal. [online] ESPN. Available at:
http://www.espn.in/nba/story/_/id/13053413/nba-signs-8-year-apparel-deal-nike [Accessed 2
Feb. 2018].
Fortune.com. 2018. Olympics-USOC and Nike extend partnership through 2020. [online]
Available at: http://fortune.com/2014/11/24/olympics-usoc-and-nike-extend-partnership-
through-2020/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].
FoxSports.com. 2018. Here's what we know about the NBA's uniform switch to Nike next
season. [online] Available at: https://www.foxsports.com/nba/gallery/heres-what-we-know-
about-the-nbas-uniform-switch-to-nike-next-season-060617 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].
Nike.com. 2018. [online] Available at: https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/?ref=https%253A
%252F%252Fwww.google.co.in%252F [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].
Teamusa.org. 2018. U.S. Olympic Committee, NIKE, Inc. Extend Partnership Through 2020.
[online] Available at: https://www.teamusa.org/News/2014/November/24/US-Olympic-
Committee-NIKE-Inc-Extend-Partnership-Through-2020 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2018].

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Tsiotsou, R.H., Alexandris, K. and Bettina Cornwell, T., 2014. Using evaluative conditioning
to explain corporate co-branding in the context of sport sponsorship. International Journal of
Advertising, 33(2), pp.295-327.

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Appendix
Sponsorship of Nike for the last 13 years in USA