Nike Inc. announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 27 cents per share on the company's outstanding Class A and Class B Common Stock.

The 27 cents quarterly dividend, which is payable on January 4, 2010 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 7, 2009, represents an 8% increase over the previous quarterly rate of $0.25 per share.

“We are pleased to increase our dividend for the eighth year in a row,” said Mark Parker, President and CEO of NIKE, Inc. “Over the last five years we have more than doubled our annual dividend and paid out over $1.8 billion to shareholders – reflecting our commitment to delivering value to shareholders and our on-going confidence in the business.”