How Much Money Did Nike Lose Because Of Kaepernick

Just Do It: Nike's decision to make controversial former quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of its 30th Anniversary "Just Do It" campaign marks the logical extension of politics into two places it shouldn't be: sports and business. Nike may regret its move.

Nike shares fell 2.60 points to 79.60 on Tuesday, a drop of 3.16%, for a loss of $2.8 billion in market value. Apparently, shareholders weren't happy.

Neither were Nike customers. A boycott was organized, with some former Nike customers burning their paraphernalia. All because Nike decided to use quarterback-turned-social activist Kaepernick as its frontman.

Nike had to know this would spark an angry reaction. Kaepernick has been lionized, likened to civil rights leaders of the past. Even former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tweeted his support. But Kaepernick's "take-a-knee" stunt during the national anthem bitterly divided fans of both the NFL and his former team, the San Francisco 49ers. It damaged the NFL, and the potential earnings of all players.

And whatever you might think of Kaepernick's protest, he pretty much made himself unhireable. What football owner would want a player on his team who once wore socks portraying police as pigs, and who showed such disgraceful disrespect during the national anthem? Even if that owner thought Kaepernick was good enough, his hiring would alienate masses of fans.

As his supporters suggest, Kaepernick is physically talented enough to play in the NFL. His first years were successful. However, as teams concocted new ways to defend him, Kaepernick struggled. His last two years — 2015 and 2016, the period when he became radicalized — he had just three wins and 16 losses as a starter.

In short, he had become a noisy, angry distraction who alienated even laid-back Forty-Niner fans. Worse, he was a loser.

So Nike is his new team. Its new ad, with a dramatic black-and-white photo of Kaepernick, says "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything."#JustDoIt

Far from Kaepernick "sacrificing everything," Nike has just turned him into an extremely well-paid professional protester.

As Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported, Nike signed Kaepernick to a new "wide endorsement," in which Kaepernick will make millions of dollars like a "top-end" NFL player, with his own line of shoes, shirts, jerseys and whatever.

Robinson tweeted: "A lot behind the curtain here. @Nike had Kaepernick since 2011 but this is actually a new deal done by Kaepernick's reps @markgeragos & @meiselasb. Nike sat on Kaepernick for 2 years w/ no idea what to do with him. Interest from other shoe companies absolutely changed their tune."

So it's a cynical marketing move, not a brave political stand, by Nike. Meanwhile, Kaepernick has found that "sacrificing everything" can be pretty profitable.

One thing needs to be cleared up: Kaepernick didn't have his career taken from him. He opted out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers because they asked him to stop kneeling. Despite playing poorly his final two years in San Francisco, he no doubt thought he'd sign on immediately with another team. He didn't.

What other team would want the distractions, grief and angry fan response? That's especially true of teams that play not in far-left San Francisco but in politically centrist, working-class communities — the kind where people still salute the flag as a symbol of our nation, despite its flaws.

In short, he's no civil rights martyr. He made a bad career choice. Now it's turned into gold with Nike.

Nike, for its part, has taken a calculated risk. Its customers tend to be younger (under 30), and perhaps more forgiving of someone's political foibles. So maybe Nike doesn't care if its Kaepernick deal loses older, more conservative customers. It's too busy rebranding as the first social justice sports lifestyle company.

When you put it all together, this really looks like a grimy business transaction, not a brave stand for racial equality, as some in the leftist media assert. It's paid off well for Kaepernick.

For Nike, It's Not About Kaepernick

But based on what the market did to Nike's stock, the same can't be said for the sports apparel makers' shareholders. We make no predictions based on one day's stock market action, and Nike's shares are up over 25% this year. But Nike has definitely damaged its reputation with many in the U.S. Investors will no doubt watch to see if Nike's progressive politics win out over profits.

Last year, Nike, with $35 billion in revenues, said it planned to push growth by "deeply serving consumers in 12 key cities, across 10 key countries: New York, London, Shanghai, Beijing, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Mexico City, Barcelona, Seoul, and Milan. These key cities and countries are expected to represent over 80% of Nike's projected growth through 2020."

Nike doesn't care one bit what middle-America thinks. It has for marketing purposes drunk the Progressives' racial Kool-Aid. It's the epitome of the modern "woke" corporation, marketing its "wokeness" like other companies hawk goods.

Meanwhile, Nike may be burning bridges with the NFL, a multibillion dollar partner. Nike announced its alliance with Kaepernick, who is suing the NFL for "collusion," without first notifying them. While the NFL made mollifying comments, owners were reported to be livid about Nike's move.

Instapundit blogger and law professor Glenn Reynolds has a saying: "Get woke, go broke." Nike's got the "woke" part down. Now we'll see about the "broke" part.

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