At Nike’s annual meeting held virtually on Friday, September 12, Elliott Hill, CEO and president, elaborated on Nike’s recently launched “Sport Offense” strategy that he expects “will act as an accelerator” to its “Win Now” program designed to reignite growth.
When reporting earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter on June 26, Nike announced the Sport Offense initiative, which involves organizing internal teams around sports across its three brands — Nike, Jordan, and Converse — rather than by men’s, women’s and kids’ categories.
“We will now have dedicated cross-functional teams by sport and by brand who will create greater distinction and dimension for our three brands, will make us more competitive and will accelerate our growth,” said Hill in his first annual meeting since being appointed CEO last October. “With our Sport Offense, we will have the right structure. We will build connections with the communities that live and breathe each sport. We’ll gain better insights and pull them all the way through to the marketplace. The sport offense will also give us a more direct line of sight to our competitors.”
Hill, who had 32 years working at Nike before returning to the company in the lead role, added that the move will create “dedicated, sport-obsessed teams to allow us to move at the speed of our consumers, deepen our relationships with athletes we serve, and gain even sharper insights to create a relentless flow of sport-specific innovation.”
Hill emphasized how refocusing on individual sports will help the brand gain insights from and engage with consumers, while also supporting Nike’s internal employee culture.
Hill shared, “From my first day back, it was clear to me that we needed to get back to putting sport at the center of everything we do, because athletes have always been the fuel for the Nike Brand. Their insights lead to innovative, coveted product, and their journeys allow us to tell emotional and inspiring stories. That’s why I made it a point over the last year to connect personally with many of our partners around the globe – athletes, teams and leagues, our manufacturing partners, and our wholesale partners. Those relationships and conversations are vital to the strength of our company.”
Hill’s comments come as Nike’s sales fell 12 percent for the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31 and 10 percent for the year. These declines are due, in part, to the company’s efforts to clear inventories of classic footwear franchises (The Dunk, Air Force One, Jordan 1) after it had become too reliant on selling retro footwear. Nike’s sales and margins have also taken a hit from moves it made to reduce off-price sales across direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. Nike’s sales have declined on a year-over-year basis for five straight quarters.
“The results reported in fiscal year 2025 are not up to the Nike standard,” said Hill in the meeting. “I will say the entire Nike team feels a sense of urgency here.”
However, Hill said his conversations show that many industry partners want Nike to succeed. “People are rooting for a strong Nike because when Nike is at its best, we bring more consumers into the world of sport,” said Hill. And when we do that, we help grow the overall marketplace. The consistent feedback we’ve heard is pretty simple: let’s see more of Nike being Nike.”
Hill also cited progress with Nike’s Win Now plan that includes a focus on five fields (running, basketball, football, training, and sportswear), three countries (the U.S., China and the U.K.), and five cities (New York, Los Angeles, London, Beijing, and Shanghai) to revive growth.
A top priority must be to reestablish a “winning culture” that reembraces sport as a foremost priority. At the management level, Hill noted that he has reset Nike’s leadership team and “flattened my leadership structure to get closer to the business.”
Hill said Nike recommitted to investing in marketing around major sports events to help revive the brand’s heat. Among the major recent renewals and extensions were those with the NBA and the WNBA, the NFL, the Brazilian Football Confederation, the French Football Federation, and FC Barcelona.
Hill said, “We pulled the lever we knew would drive the greatest and quickest impact this year by investing heavily in big sports moments and key product launches. And because the athlete powers our brand voice, our innovation agenda, and ultimately our revenue, we will continue to be aggressive in sports marketing and partner with sports’ biggest icons.”
In terms of innovation, Nike has so far prioritized performance running, beginning with the introduction of a nine-box construct around its Pegasus, Vomero and Structure models. The solid response helped Nike Running achieve growth in the high single digits overall for the quarter. Said Hill, “We’ve given the runner more choice in responsiveness, cushioning and stability through a simple construct that can be easily understood at retail across multiple channels. Nike Brand running is accelerating, and we’re well on our way to meeting our high standards of end-to-end execution in running.”
Basketball, global football, training, and sportswear are also undergoing a similar roadmap.
Hill said Nike feels “really good about the diversification we’re creating in sportswear.” The company has a full innovation pipeline lined up for its other performance sports. He said, “We’ll approach basketball through multiple dimensions. In global football, we’re on an exciting road to the World Cup. We’re preparing to upgrade all three football boot silos in a 12-month window and will debut an exciting apparel innovation that we will ultimately scale across multiple sports.”
Hill cautioned about overall innovation, “It takes time to flow into the entire marketplace, but we’re confident in the pipeline, and we’re showing improvement season after season.”
A fourth focus under Win Now is the priority to “elevate and grow the marketplace.” This includes reducing online discounting to return Nike’s DTC approach to a “more premium destination” that supports product launches and brand building. Hill said, “You can see that more recently in places like New York City at our House of Innovation during the U.S. Open. Or at pop-up stores in London when the Women’s England national team won the European Championships.”
At the same time, Nike is reestablishing its brands at wholesale accounts, particularly at physical stores, after prioritizing DTC growth in recent years. Hill said, “We will win when our partners win. I’m playing an active role in this, leveraging my many years of experience and relationships in the marketplace.”
Finally, Nike is prioritizing a more localized approach in reaching communities. Hill said, “We’re authentic because of the personal connections we make with consumers in the neighborhoods where they live and play. We support communities to run and train together. We partner with local retailers to bring more people through their doors. We celebrate the intersections of sport, youth, and culture.”
Asked in the questions section of the meeting what gives him confidence that Nike is taking the right steps to reposition the business, Hill said, “The short answer is that we’re seeing progress and clear signals in the marketplace. We’re seeing this through the brand impact that we’re having by telling emotional stories during sport moments and product launches, and the acceleration of our product portfolio with sell through of key launches such as the Pegasus Premium, the Vomero 18, A’One, and our new 24.7 apparel line, which is all brought to life through an integrated marketplace, both with our partners and our own channels.”
In response to a question about the potential impact of tariffs, Matt Friend, CFO, stated that Nike has built a “responsive and resilient” platform over the years. The company is taking a “thoughtful and strategic approach to tariffs, balancing the consumer, our partners, our Win Now actions, as well as the long-term positioning of our brands in the marketplace.”
He noted that Nike has already called out several mitigation strategies. These include shifting sourcing across countries, partnering with suppliers and retail partners to mitigate cost increases, implementing strategic pricing actions, and continually evaluating ways to improve productivity and reduce corporate costs.
Friend stressed that Nike won’t be reducing investments in areas that support growth. The CFO said, “While tariffs represent a new and meaningful cost headwind to Nike, our highest priority continues to be reigniting brand momentum.”
Asked about inventory levels and order rates, Friend said Nike remains on track to return to a “healthy and clean position” by the end of the fiscal first half, which ended November 30. This comes after “aggressive” efforts over the last year to reduce elevated levels of its classic footwear franchises.
On orders, Friend said Nike is receiving “very positive early feedback” from its wholesale partners on the newer product set to arrive in the coming seasons, with Nike’s holiday orders up compared to the prior year. Friend said, “Like Elliott, I’m encouraged by these signals of progress. We’re finding better balance in our product portfolio, leading with incredible sport performance product as well as new dimensions of sportswear.”
Image courtesy Nike
