The deal begins this week. Her first official competition in Nike gear will be the WTA Event in Stuttgart, beginning April 22.
Source: Tennis Superstar Naomi Osaka Signs with Nike
Less than a year removed from the biggest win of her life where she broke down crying and drew an entirely new group of fans to the sport of tennis, adidas has lost a rising superstar in Naomi Osaka and they allowed Nike to take the moments that endear us to sportswear and sports for more than a minute. I actually saw this coming last year when I wrote this post:
Naomi Osaka and adidas Defeated Nike and Serena but No One Noticed
So who actually won the day?
Beyonce will most certainly get the Beyhive to support her turn with adidas. I didn’t write anything about the signing, but I did say that I think this could be huge for adidas. However, my initial response was tempered by Nike’s announcement of Osaka signing with the Swoosh. I was reminded of why Nike maintains its prominence.
For as much as analysts continue to say that performance shoes aren’t selling and that Yeezy made it into the top shoes sold, sneakers are made from moments. Fashion is fleeting and will always be fleeting. It doesn’t have staying power and moves so quickly that one wrong turn and an entire campaign can fall flat.
You know what never falls flat? Sports moments and the gear and products associated with those moments. While the sportsworld is shifting because there are so many things to occupy the day with, there are only a few lasting images that remain. Instagram culture has made musicians influential, but that influence wanes in time as the singer, rapper, actor gets older. As athletes grow older their legacies become cemented in books and in stories told about how to overcome adversity.
MJ has been away from basketball for over 20 years and his products still sell out. Penny Hardaway was injured and never reached his potential, but his Memphis Tigers Foamposite was released and sold out because his legacy is reborn via his coaching at his alma mater. Nike recently released the Sherly Swoopes basketball shoe, in limited quantities. Swoopes’ WNBA team doesn’t even exist anymore, but she does.
Nike just signed the girl who looked up to the GOAT. Nike just signed the woman who cried when she beat her idol. Nike just signed the woman that Serena begged the world to stop booing when that woman upset Serena. Nike just signed the future of tennis, while also having on their roster Sloane Stephens and Li-Na giving Nike a diverse roster of athletes to build more campaigns on equality around.
While I know that entertainers can create their own moments Beyonce has more of a ballroom Diana Ross future ahead of her than a legacy in sports (and therefore sportswear) than her costar in her music video Sorry. I think in the short term adidas won the day or the year, but in the long run if Naomi even gets half of the wins that Serena has, Nike will be producing marketing around the multinational #1 tennis player in the world for the next 10 years.
