NIKE MATCH UNDER ARMOUR DEAL?
- Updated: August 31, 2014
The battle for Kevin Durant just took another turn, with reports that Nike is set to match the $285m-odd that Under Armour is offering the reigning MVP.
Sources have told ESPN say that Nike has exercised its right to match any rival shoe company’s offer to OKC star:
“On Saturday, Nike officials told Durant and his team at Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports that it would indeed step up enough to allow the world’s largest shoe and apparel company to keep him in its robust stable of basketball endorsers that includes LeBron Jamesand Kobe Bryant.
While the exact Nike offer for Durant isn’t known, sources told ESPN that Durant should make more — in base and royalties — than the Thunder will pay him over the next two seasons ($41.2 million). That’s why fans in Oklahoma City were nervous about a possible move to Under Armour, which could have steered him more to returning to his local roots to play for the Washington Wizards when he becomes a free agent after the 2015-16 season.”
Under Armour signed Stephen Curry away from Nike last year, but is still a minnow in the basketball business.
Nike’s share, including its Jordan Brand, is 96% in the $4.5 billion basketball shoe market, according to SportsOneSource. Under Armour is sitting at one-quarter of 1%.
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