In the 1980’s Nike placed a bet on a rising young superstar named Michael Jordan. It made billions.
In 2023, Nike placed a very different bet — partnering with Dylan Mulvaney.
Today, Nike has lost roughly $224 billion in market value over five years and is being dropped from the S&P 100.
Coincidence? Maybe. But let’s hope the NFL and Major League Baseball are paying attention.
This didn’t have to happen. All Nike had to do was look around and observe. Hollywood and Bud Light were two examples staring them in the face. Yet the brand that heroically celebrated athletic achievement, suddenly insisted on preaching a political agenda. It’s paying a steep price.
Decades ago, Jordan was asked why he wasn’t more of a political activist. His response became legendary:
“Republicans buy sneakers, too.”
Who knew that a 20-something mega-jock would be so clairvoyant?
He understood then and knows it to be true now. Little good comes from mixing sports and politics.
Word of caution to other sports entities, specifically the NFL and Major League Baseball. Beware of wading too deep into woke waters.
MLB celebrates Pride Month by having players wear rainbow-themed uniforms. Earlier this season when three SF Giants players pinned Bible verses to their Pride-themed caps on Pride Night, hysteric cries of “racists!” predictably broke out in unison. Baseball’s leadership would be well-advised to worry less about the mob minority, and instead be in tune with the silent majority. The same ones who stopped buying Nike’s and no longer watch Disney.
With MLB’s players union contract coming up for negotiation later this year, some are predicting a possible lockout and even cancellation of part or all of next season. Add heavy doses of woke nonsense to cancelled games and the combination could be lethal. It took baseball several years to regain its footing after the 1994 season was cancelled over labor disputes – and that was without the woke noise.
Same is true for the NFL. Pride month tributes are now being supplemented with male cheerleaders dressed and dancing femininely on NFL gridirons. It doesn’t take an expert to guess how that will go over with most NFL fans.
It may be cliche, but it’s also true. “Go Woke. Go Broke.” Let’s hope our major sports leagues are taking notes.
Hi Paul! First of all,my apologies for not getting to welcome you to the Loftus Party website sooner. I have read and enjoyed all of your articles. You would think that Nike would have learned from the financial fallout of the advertising debacle of Bud Light ,which they still haven’t recovered from, and not hitch their woke political wagon to someone like Dylan Mulvaney. He is market value poison. Michael Jordan knew what was up. Never put politics in business. I, along with many other sports fans ,are tired of being bombarded by political messages on fields and players &coaches uniforms and team merchandise. No one asked for this. It became a form of racial and sexual orientation extortion.Most of the people who protested about a player or team that wouldn’t participate in Pride Night have never watched a game,bought a ticket or team merchandise. I stopped buying any NFL or NHL merchandise after they bowed to this insanity. It’s times like these I thank God everyday that my team ,the Pittsburgh Steelers, don’t have any cheerleaders at all. Unless they are the hulking type of male cheerleaders that just lift or throw the small female cheerleaders up in the air like in college,we don’t need them in the NFL. We can only hope that all of these sports teams will eventually see the light and go back to sports only.
Lynne, thanks a ton for the note! So excited to be a part of TLP! And yes…you’re spot on. Sports has always been an escape (from both the real world and the day-to-day challenges in our personal lives)… to see sports get taken over more and more by political agendas and woke nonsense disturbs the soul. Really hoping that there will be stronger push back than what we saw with Hollywood and a lot of businesses (Enes Kanter, Riley Gaines and others need more support from the masses). Let’s stop the madness before it’s too late!!