By Jahla Seppanen
At the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games, July 19-24, Nike athlete Mat Fraser took his first win after coming in second the following two years.
The 26-year-old’s victory shifted some attention away from the ever-growing CrossFit brand, Reebok, to the footwear/apparel giant Nike, who signed Fraser in December 2014 after an explosive debut performance landing the newbie “Rookie of the Year” and a podium finish at the Games that year.
And yes, Nike is quietly going ham over the recent victory after its footwear was banned for competitors only a year ago at the 2015 Games. With its budget to never back down, Nike responded by setting up billboards around the arena with ads reading, “Don’t ban our shoe. Beat our shoe.”
Reebok made a smart courtship with CrossFit in 2010, becoming its official partner for a 10-year-long deal allowing the brand to block competitors from stamping their products as intended for the sport. A year later in 2011, Reebok hooked its name on the CrossFit Games.
At the same time, Nike was inking an extension deal with LeBron James, following the seven-year, $93 million initial contract with the NBA star… so it’s hard to say if the swoosh was really ‘missing out’ on the right endorsement.
Still, that’s 324,307 registered participants from 175 countries that Nike missed out on during the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games Open alone, with a pretty even split between men and women of varying ages and experience, even teens.
However, Nike is growing its roster of CrossFit athletes, with Josh Bridges, Jeff Evans, Lauren Fisher, Nate Schrader, Khan Porter, Brandon Swan, Kenny Leverich, Jacob Heppner, Alexandra LaChance and the CrossFit Invictus Team, alongside its 2016 star Mat Fraser.
During the 2016 competition, Fraser turned heads after gaining a 197-point lead over second place winner Ben Smith — the most dominant margin lead (points-wise) ever recorded for the Games. Smith and Fraser matched up in a similar race to gold in the 2015 Games, with Smith taking first place.
Although Nike doesn’t boost its CrossFit-intended apparel and footwear nearly as much as Reebok, the company did share on April 26, 2016 that Nike athlete and Olympics hopeful Amna Al Haddad uses their gear for her weightlifting. So yes, Nike is putting its toes in the sport, but not jumping in head first.
Some might see Nike’s edging into CrossFit as a sign of infiltration, but it’s more likely a way for the mammoth to cover all sport categories. Nike also dodged a blow when leading into this year’s Reebok CrossFit Games; the Director of the Games Dave Castro announced that winners would be awarded not only cash, but a Glock pistol. Rallies and petitions to overturn the Glock partnership stirred up controversy as the games took off — a negative to all the positive buzz built for Reebok in the partnership.
Photos courtesy Nike
