🏀 New Balance's Hometown Hero 🇺🇸

NIL will change everything in the sports marketing landscape, and I do mean everything.
Like, allowing smaller brands to make big bets in hopes to land the stars of tomorrow.
The likely first round pick in the NBA Draft next year just signed with New Balance.
That's right, New Balance. Not Nike, not Adidas, New Balance.

This continues the hot streak that New Balance is on. They signed Cameron Brink last year. They invested in the WNBA partnership this year. They've got Coco Gauff in tennis, Ohtani in baseball. Their size is forcing them to make smart, strategic, selective investments in athletes…and it’s paying off. The success of their classics

Most of the sentiment out there seems to be, “Wow, Nike missed out on him.”

But, one of the biggest problems we had at Nike is that we had an embarrassment of riches. We had too many athletes and we couldn't keep them all happy. It’s a quality problem, but a problem nonetheless.
It seems that Cooper was a Nike fan. I couldn’t find a single image of him prior the signing of this contract wearing a brand other than Nike or Jordan Brand.

But, maybe he got the best of both worlds?
He will be required to wear Nike on the court at Duke and in any basketball related activity. That means in practice, games & any official team activity, he can only wear Nike. And regardless of his shoe deal next year, he'll have the swoosh on his future NBA uniform as well.

And this may be unjust, but until college players get a collective bargaining agreement, they will still be subject to whatever apparel & footwear sponsor their school signs with.
We don't know what the Duke Nike deal is worth exactly, but other universities of it’s stature are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Cooper’s deal pales in comparison to this, so even if New Balance could, there is no fine that can be paid or protest to be made [yet] that would allow a New Balance shoe on court for Cooper.

But for now, New Balance has him off the court. While Cooper has a big following for High School- 800k IG, 48k TT, he’s not natively active on social, so this is not ideal for a stictly offcourt signing, but his influence can’t be denied. Expect to see him at events, and in a version of NB’s “We Got Now” campaign around College Basketball tip off time.
Will Nike steal him away once he hits the league? We don’t know New Balances long term fortune, but for this next year, we know their mentality…
“We Got Now.”

Education & Resources:
FRIDAY 9a PST,11a CST, Noon EST the Brand Brothers do a Live Stream.
This week? New Balance's Rise, Liquid Death X Yeti's Coffin Cooler, the US Open and more.
Plus, Olipop's Head of Growth joins us to talk Collaborations, Cooler Shelves, Stand Out Packaging and More.

Blessings:
“One of my major pieces of advice is to do six projects at once…”
After two year of entrepreneurship, I reflected on this advice from Virgil Abloh. Maybe it sparks something in you?

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