Nike was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight on January 25, 1964, and was named "Blue Ribbon Sports" at the time. It was officially renamed Nike on May 30, 1971. The company's name is taken from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
After so many years of hard work by Phil Knight, Nike has grown into a world-class company, ranking first in the field of sports shoes. Currently, Nike owns Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7 and other brands to sell its products. It also owns the Jordan sub-brand and is acquiring it. Converse.
This is inseparable from the credit of Phil Knight, and there is a well-known reason for Nike to take off, Michael Jordan. At that time, stars throughout the league were proud to wear Converse sneakers. The little-known Nike gave Michael Jordan an unprecedented price at the time: $2.5 million over five years, and also promised a share of the sneakers.
You must know that at this time, the largest contract in the NBA is the one-year endorsement fee of US$150,000 between Lakers star Worthy and New Balance. Nike's decision cost all their money.
Then, they won.
Now, Phil Knight sits in his luxurious office, he does not need to spend all his money to earn money. However, he must make an important decision. Next to him sat his old buddy Vaccaro, and new general manager Tosun.
They were talking about the latest endorsement situation.
Nike is now in a superstar vacuum, especially after the Jordan Brand became independent, they need a fist superstar.
Hardaway's influence continues to decline due to chronic injuries. Adidas has already acquired two of the league's strongest new-generation guards by virtue of their alternative high school route: Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. Reebok also had Allen Iverson in charge, and Vince Carter bounced around different sneaker brands. Even if he signed with Nike, it would be difficult to take on important tasks: By 2003, people began to doubt whether UFO could continue to take off.
"Our negotiations with Kobe Bryant are going well, and we can get Kobe Bryant. Add in LeBron James, and we are already guaranteed to win."
Vaccaro told Phil Knight.
The current situation is that the contract reached by Nike and Kobe Bryant's team will be worth US$45 million over five years. Under Goodwin's extreme pressure, they will reach a seven-year, $92 million contract with LeBron James. Originally, they planned to only give 90 million US dollars, but Goodwin raised the price by raising the price with Suzy the Sheep, so they had to add an additional 2 million US dollars.
This will be the largest sponsorship deal in sports history and will undoubtedly shock the entire market. And it brings strong public opinion spread.
This is the effect Nike wants.
Now, Phil Knight faces another problem.
He told the executives on both sides of the long conference table: "Look at the scouting report sent back from Cleveland. We need to make an accurate offer for this kid. Now, Adidas is also actively recruiting him."
"In Grover's words, this is a dormant super talent who is constantly growing and has the potential to become a super talent like LeBron. Gray supports this, telling me that Adidas' talented data analysts are working every day. His eyes were shining brightly, and in fact, the data sheet we saw also verified their judgment."
"We have already made a mistake in renewing Yao Ming's contract. We cannot miss the huge market in China, which will become a key place for Nike's market value to explode."
"Our staff in Asia told us that this MOP, who is loved by the media, has set off a whirlwind in Asian countries. This was achieved without a lot of publicity. He has become a sports idol in China, and more and more young people are I am proud to imitate him, and his hairstyles have become the most popular styles nowadays."
"I predict that as long as he becomes an elite player in the NBA and coupled with our packaging and promotion, he will become the most important representative of the NBA in Asia, surpassing Yao Ming. This is enough for us to make up for the mistakes that happened to Yao Ming."
Phil Knight's tendency is obvious, he wants to take down Su Xi.
What he said about Yao Ming's problem. It was Nike who failed to renew Yao Ming's contract this year. Yao Ming's team finally chose to accept the olive branch extended by Reebok: US$50 million over seven years.
Nike's arrogance on Yao Ming's contract extension made Phil Knight very angry with the negotiating team, although they explained that it was because they focused all their attention on negotiations with Kobe and LeBron James, and they felt that China only sold a total of $100 million worth of sneakers.
But this proves to be extremely short-sighted. China has joined the WTO negotiations. Once they become part of this huge organization, all goods will enter unimpeded. As consumption upgrades, Nike will inevitably become a hot-selling brand sought after by ordinary people.
Now, God gave them a chance to make amends.
The Goodwin brothers were a pair of ferocious negotiators, and the contract they offered was much harsher than Yao Ming's: five years and $55 million. Yao Ming's team only wanted an annual salary of about US$5 million at the time, but Nike was only willing to give him US$1.6 million a year.
Due to the mistakes in Yao Ming's matter, coupled with Su Xi's visible influence. They were careful, they sent Gray, the most professional trainer, and they collected all Susie's information, including sending a team to Syracuse University to do background checks and also went to the Cotswolds.
The news they got back was exciting. Su Xi is a superstar who suddenly emerged. He was unknown in high school and relied on Reggie Weems to help him go to college.
Moreover, he is humble and low-key, diligent and hard-working, and makes great progress with each passing day.
The words of the head coach of Syracuse University impressed them deeply: "To be honest, I never thought he could play in the NBA. I wanted to train him to become the main force of Syracuse University in the next three years. But in the end, he even took away Carme Lon Anthony's MOP. I don't mean to sow discord. Before the national competition, Jack was much less famous than Cameron, but now, all the talk on campus is the legend of Susie the Sheep."
This incident shocked Nike greatly.
A proud man like Carmelo Anthony, who is tied with LeBron James as the No. 1 college student in the United States, cannot compare with Su Xi in terms of creating public opinion.
In recent times, although this guy has been training in Cleveland, he is actually one of the most watched rookies. Their senior media data analyst said: Although LeBron keeps traveling to various occasions, he also bears the title of the NBA's chosen son. However, the search popularity of Suzy the Sheep on Google is even higher than him. People are full of curiosity about the sudden rise of the genius Suzy the Sheep. And those young people participating in the draft always want to get attention from Su Xi, but this only promotes Su Xi's popularity.
Most importantly, this handsome guy also captures the favor of many women.
This caused Beckham to be mentioned more than once in Nike high-level meetings.
This is also the point that the Goodwin brothers emphasize: no one can resist a pair of beautiful basketball shoes on the feet of a handsome boy.
After taking two deep breaths, Vaccaro, a negotiator and high-profile figure, made up his mind: "We can give him 40 million US dollars in five years. This is our limit."
Vaccaro is a very courageous person. It was he who made the final decision to offer Jordan a five-year, $2.5 million contract. Moreover, he also presented a sports car to Jordan on signing day.
"We cannot let James and Kobe feel that they have been surpassed." Vaccaro said: "Moreover, there is indeed a lot of uncertainty about him. Although I am sure that he can become an important defensive player in the NBA, and even become an NBA player with his huge popularity. star."
Philnight took Vaccaro's words very seriously and took a deep breath.
Then, he asked his assistant to call Goodwin: "Get those two cunning foxes up here and tell them we've made a decision."
"My bottom line is 45 million US dollars in five years. It's the same as Kobe." Phil Knight said: "After all, Kobe was once Adidas' number one."
The most important thing about a sneaker brand is consistency. Changing doors will cause your market value to plummet.
Just like Vince Carter, he jumped around and lost all his market influence. Because it is difficult for people to associate him with a fixed brand.
When Phil Knight made this decision, there was a sound of amazement at the scene.
No one knows if this contract is correct.
But it does shock the entire draft market.
At the same time, the NBA lottery began.
It will soon decide who this year's draft pick will be.
Can the Cavaliers get the No. 1 pick?
Or Denver?
Everyone in the conference room was concerned, except Phil Knight, who was calm.
He knew David Stern wasn't going to let LeBron James go to Denver.
He is a keen and shrewd businessman.
But will Su Xi go to a deserted land?
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