Now that Nike Running appears on track, Nike Inc. looks to be focusing on team sports to grow its presence in other categories.
This month, Nike entered into exclusive talks with the UEFA (Union of European Football Associationsue) to be the match ball provider its men’s Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
It’s a move that breaks the 25-year hold by Adidas under its sponsorship agreement and one that saw Nike beat out Puma, which also was vying for a chance to be the new sponsor. Adidas is still the official match ball provider supplier for the FIFA World Cups, with the men’s competition to be held this year across North America in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
And last week, the global sports brand became the official apparel partner of the Premier Lacrosse League (the men’s teams) and its Women’s Lacrosse League, while also giving the teams access to Nike’s footwear and equipment. The multi-year partnership has Nike designing and producing new uniforms and sideline apparel for the teams beginning with the 2026 season, replacing Champion as the sideline partner since 2021. The Premier league has eight teams, while its Women’s subsidiary has four teams.
Separately, in footwear, the cleats worn for football and soccer can also be worn by lacrosse players. And lacrosse in particular has grown in popularity in colleges and high schools.
“Nike has set the bar for elite performance and culture-defining moments in sports for decades, just as we aspire to do for the sport of lacrosse,” Paul Rabil, co-founder and president of both leagues, said. “We’re building [Premier] and [Women’s] for what’s next, and partnering with Nike accelerates that by giving us greater exposure and more opportunities for athletes across the game.”
Todd Jacobs, GM of Nike Field Sports said the partnership between Nike and the Premier and Women’s leagues “reflects the momentum we’re seeing in one of the most dynamic sports in North America.”
Nike’s turnaround efforts under CEO Elliott Hill saw the “Win Now” strategy seeming to focus first on Nike Running. It appears to have been a success, with a number of retailers noting the success of the Vomero 18 introduction early last year.
Drake MacFarlane, research analyst at data-driven and analytics firm M Science and head of the consumer products sector, has cautioned that “performance running isn’t everything,” adding that there are other components of Nike’s business that need work. As for the match ball contract with the Champions League, the analyst said he was “skeptical” about how it might help Nike in the immediate term, given the challenges they had in Europe in the most recent quarter, although the deal “likely helps in the medium term.”
According to MacFarlane, “The core theme for Nike over the past several years comes back to challenges with product.” While running stabilized largely due to investment in compelling product — he cited to the Vomero and Pegasus franchises — Adidas remains a core competitor in football and soccer due to its Predator franchise in footwear and also in apparel through football and soccer jerseys.
And while the recent Champions League match ball shakeup went in Nike’s favor, he said the brand still needs to innovate more, including in “soccer cleat franchises like the Mercurial and Tiempo,” as well as doing more with building brand association with the sport. As for Nike’s struggles across Europe, MacFarlane suggests that has to do with a “lack of credibility Nike has within the core European sport, football, though the other element ties into Nike’s challenges on the casual side.”
He said Nike can address the European consumer interested in running — noting that “On and Hoka would not do well there otherwise” — but needs to address the fall off in its classic franchises. The M Science research analyst suggests that the “problem is more a function of cultural relevance with regards to Nike’s product suite in the casual market.” And while Adidas, which has seen its classic Terrace silhouette take off, is No. 2, MacFarlane noted that Nike’s classic franchises — Air Force 1, Air Max, Jordan — appear more closely connected with the American market than Europe.
MacFarlane sees product innovation as key, and Nike has shown it can do that because where it has innovated effectively are those products that are working, such as Vomero and its new, neuroscience-based footwear Nike Mind series.
“Establishing effective product builds longer term credibility across sports, which eventually bleed into lifestyle. A running shoe’s purpsoe may be running, but it may be more often worn in the office in the end,” MacFarlane said. “Longer term credibility then can [involve turning] products into new classics and/or revitalize old ones. Nike classic franchises relied on nostalgia and limited drops — in other words, relying on historically earned credibility. That needs to be built back up again.”
One analyst sees Nike benefiting from brand optics over the next several years.
Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser lowered the price target of Nike shares after the company reported third quarter earnings from $80 a share to $57, noting: “Clearly there’s a big difference between a company that’s doing the right thing to fix its business and a great stock.”
That said, Poser has a “Buy” rating on Nike shares because he’s confident of Nike’s ultimate success and because “we believe the company is taking the appropriate actions to reestablish its strength, despite the fact it’s taking longer than we expected.” He also expects the sports brand to benefit from a number of upcoming sporting events from the current NBA playoffs to the FIFA World Cup this summer through to the 2028 Olympics.
