Football has given a new dimension to the fashion industry and also enhanced its revenue. Now, you may think, how? Well, many football fans follow their favorite player and always try to make such personality which includes outfits too, and Nike is currently dominating the fashion industry.
Nike is a brand that is well recognized by everyone around the world as the company deals in most of the utilities associated with sports, just as jerseys, shoes, socks, etc. The journey of Nike towards the sports domain was very challenging, and most interestingly, in Football, it is totally unbelievable.
In this article, you will come to know about every footstep Nike placed towards Football, and the same will let you know how challenging the journey was.
Nike’s Journey Towards Football
Nike and Football are just the mirror image because you will find most of the players of the leading clubs are using Nike’s outfits and shoes. In the present day, it is in the dominant position compared to Adidas and Puma. But in the past, the scenario was completely different, so let’s tighten the seat belt to start the roller-coaster journey of Nike together with Football.
Origin of Nike
The origin of Nike is very interesting; it shows the struggle of a startup and how the emerging company reached the court. The foundation stone of Nike was laid down by Knight and Bowerman, who started Blue Ribbon Sports company and further joined hands with a Japanese Shoe making company, Onitsuka Tiger. Thereafter, they launched a product, i.e., Tiger Cortez, in 1967, but later on, the differences arose between the two companies, as the Tiger claimed that Blue Ribbon was selling the Cortez in the name of Nike, and that resulted in the lawsuit.
Since after the lawsuit, Blue Ribbon rebranded the company and named it Nike, and in the year 1971, the company launched its first football boot, i.e., The Swoosh, but that was not successful because the shoe failed to match the weather conditions.
Nike Tried Hand On Other Sports
After the failure of the first product, Nike kept its distance from Football for some years and launched sports accessories for other sports, such as Tennis, Basketball, and others. Furthermore, Nike signed with famous players of different sports, such as Michael Jordon, and also released the Nike Air Jordon series, which was highly applauded. Since after that, much other boot series with other legends were launched by the company, and a few of them are Serena Williams, Tiger Woods, and others.
Re-Entry of Nike In Football
After getting success in other sports, Nike once again initiated to step into the football game. After learning from the past mistakes, the company offered sports outfits to the Portland team; the idea was a hit. And thereafter, it gained additional ten contracts from other teams, and all events took place in 1978.
Nike was eagerly waiting for a single breakthrough to launch the football boot, and luckily, they got the chance in 1982. In that era, Adidas and Puma were in a dominant position where most of the players were using their boots. So making space in such a competitive market was a challenging job for Nike. But in the European Cup, Nike signed to Aston Villa, and in the same event, the club defeated the favorite one, i.e., Bayern Munich. The best moment of the event was that every player of Aston Villa was wearing the football boot of Nike, and this memorable moment changed the destiny of Nike.
Unstoppable Nike In Football Domain
The journey of Nike in the football industry rises beyond the par, and the prime reason behind the same is the establishment of a Football factory. In this factory, Nike tests the boots and also makes some premium boots (synthetic leather) for the football players. The famous boots in the series were Mercurial and Hypervenom, as these boots were highly applauded by the football legends, including Ronaldo, Neymar, and Rooney.
Determining to enhance the business, Nike stepped into the commercials and signed many contracts with the major teams, such as Brazil National Team in 1998 and others. The more interesting fact related to the commercial was Nike’s ads shot at the airport before the 1998 World Cup.
The leading football boot manufacturer company understands the dominance of Football, and the same sport has given a lot to Nike; considering all the aspects, the company launched sports bras for women players. A glimpse of the same can be seen in the Women’s World Cup 1999, where U.S. player Brandi Chastain took off the shirt after scoring the penalty and thus showcased the Nike Sports Bra. Not they even sometimes sponsor livescore section on Buaksib.
Nike’s Expansion In Football Accessories
In the initial stage, when Nike was struggling to make some space in Football, it supplied football kits to the clubs, and the first one was Portland in 1978. Even after getting huge success on boots, Nike never took a back step on the Football kit. The company consistently supplied it to the elite clubs, including PSG, Barcelona, and others. At present, Nike is the leading football kit supplier, and it is far ahead of Adidas and Puma.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the founder of Nike had seen many ups and downs in making a brand that is popular around the world. The best part of Nike is the quality, standard, and design of football boots. For instance, if you consider the Hypervenom boot, you will find that the boot is amazingly designed, enabling players to take a short from any angle. The Mercurial boot was also applauded by the players as the spikes design was outstanding, and it gave the utmost experience to the players.
Nike’s track in the football sector is going on, and it is consistently maintaining the top position because of the brand value and amazing product. Furthermore, the competition of Nike between Adidas & Puma is still in the race, so Nike is constantly working hard on the football accessories, including boots, to retain its name in this legendary sport.
