In part one of this series, I discuss the three signature sneakers currently in the WNBA:
- Breanna Stewart has the Puma Stewie
- Sabrina Ionescu has the Nike Sabrina
- Elena Delle Donne has the Nike Air Deldon
I took the time to give stats on the racial breakdown of the leagues and eventually landed on the fact that a deeper dive needed to happen. In Part 2 I discuss the Angel Reese NIL with Reebok and provide sales data to clarify the position that brand employment diversity is only one of the things needed to understand just why Black women aren’t getting signature sneakers. Video Breakdown:
- 0:00 Diversity is a Superpower
- 2:32 Texture and Clarity
- 3:10 Brand Decisions on Women and Hoops
- 5:47 Are NIL deals and endorsements important?
- 7:40 Old Marketing Strategies in Sneakers
- 9:19 The Underlying Issues
- 11:10 The Professionalization of Youth Sports
- 12:07 A’Ja and Signature Sneakers
- 14:15 Black girls, sports and hair
- 18:08 Signature Sneaker Data Intro
- 19:10 The Ja 1 Report
- 20:20 Data & Charts for WNBA Signature Sneakers
- 26:26 Wrap-Up
Source: FAST FACTS WITH ANGEL REESE
Why Are Black Women Hoopers Failing to Get Signature Basketball Sneakers?
- New Balance’s first women’s hoop NIL deal went to Cameron Brink.
- Puma’s first signature sneaker for women’s hoopers went to Breanna Stewart.
- Nike’s most recent signature sneakers went to Elena Delle Donne and Sabrina Ionescu.
- StockX’s hoops NIL signing was Paige Bueckers.
All of these are White women.
Under Armour broke the trend by signing Diamond Miller (pictured below), Laeticia Amihere and they also added Marina Mabrey to keep it balanced this year. adidas stole Aliyah Boston away from Under Armour (a great discussion for another time). Angel Reese landed a deal with Shaq and the Authentic Brands owned Reebok. There are deals flying all around and both NIL and brand signings are good, but the holy grail is what Puma and Nike delivered to their signees, signature sneakers.
What Does NIL Really Accomplish?
What Does a Successful NIL Partnership Look Like? Wolverine’s Maize and Blue Collar Series
There is an interesting discussion to be had about the effectiveness of NIL, signature sneakers and endorsements overall. I tackled this in a post about the brand Wolverine and the University of Michigan football team (linked above). I clearly state that NIL deals are primarily about recruitment and to be honest the influence an athlete has on a purchasing decision is not quantitative. Angel Reese’s NIL is a temporary light elevating her status but will probably do very little in selling more Reebok product (I’d love to be proven wrong).
As a matter of fact the marketing and strategies by brands all rely on antiquated attempts at chasing cool or convincing fans people aren’t being paid. When you bring together a group of high school hoopers to meet with one of the greatest players of all time and the entire video looks like the picture below, what exactly is influencer marketing and what are the real numbers behind it? (Read the post on this picture here)
The Underlying Issues
While the WNBA is overwhelmingly Black, youth and travel basketball is expensive and thereby White, or filled with upwardly mobile families who can afford the extensive costs associated with competition. Youth sports are becoming more specialized and professional. The ability to be recruited shifted from college coaches at high school games, to viewing periods, handlers and travel basketball. This is particularly true on the women’s basketball side of the equation (and across the board in sports like soccer, volleyball and baseball/softball).
The fact that A’Ja doesn’t have a signature sneaker is rooted in systemic financial history. Shaq offering Angel an NIL deal is worthless in changing the real problems. Black girls have to overcome religious burdens to play sports. Basketball is viewed as gay and Black families rooted in religion are notoriously difficult to navigate for gay people (all religious families are difficult to navigate for gay folks).
Black girls have to overcome hair concerns. One look at Angel Reese or the most popular Black women hoopers and flowing hair and ponytails abound. Sport activities sweat out hairstyles. The cost of hair upkeep is an extremely important barrier for Black girls. Angel’s interview linked above doesn’t touch on this at all. No brand touches on this. As a former high school basketball head coach and a current track and field high school coach, I know this to be a serious issue. Protective hairstyles are expensive to maintain and a girl participating in these activities in low-income families can find themselves being stopped. There is historical precedent here as well and I hate to generalize, but it’s one of the reasons Black women have high obesity rates. I know that’s not a comfortable paragraph, but if I don’t write it, who will?
The underlying issues of sports have to be addressed specifically for Black girls. Giving Angel an NIL and A’Ja a sneaker is an obvious thing. When the majority of young athletes and fans of the sport look like Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers the reality is the people inside of brands will take the path of least resistance every time.
Signature Sneaker Data
Beyond Design | Anthony Edwards First Signature with adidas Basketball
In a recent post on the upcoming Anthony Edwards signature sneaker from adidas, I delivered data on adidas’ other signature athletes. I used third-party data because there aren’t available numbers from point of sales at retailers or brands.
Third party is a window into retail. The sneakers being sold tend to be acquired via arbitrage. This means the sellers are taking a risk on marked down inventory from both brands and retailers to try and gain a return on investment. These sneakers sell for a fraction of the SRP which means the shoes are probably marked down even more than the average sold price in the data.
I previously wrote an extended report on the launch of the JA 1 and found that hoops sneakers are seasonal and no longer casual. This seasonality offers a chance to get back to the underlying issue in signature sneakers for women. Basketball sneaker sales no longer make up the majority of kicks being sold. The 90s and early 2000s are long gone. Brands have to be strategic in developing signature product. This means the risks are measured.
The JA 1 Continues Nike’s Recognition of Where Basketball is in Today’s Marketplace
Charts
Note the extended period of time for Data here. October 2021 to October 2023. Signature Sneakers and keywords used are broad. Puma+Stewie+Womens, Nike Sabrina 1 + Womens, Nike Air DelDon, and adidas+Candace Parker. The most important aspect of this data is I used Womens. I changed the data from Womens to Mens check out the difference. Why do you think the difference is so stark? Why is the Sabrina 1 performing above retail? (Easy answer is the Kobe design comparison) What other questions do you have after reading this and seeing the data below?
