NIKE MATCH UNDER ARMOUR DEAL?

By Greg Tanner on August 31, 2014

The battle for Kevin Durant just took another turn, with reports that Nike is set to match the $285m-odd that Under Armour is offering the reigning MVP.

SourcesÂ have told ESPNÂ say that Nike has exercised its right to match any rival shoe company’s offer toÂ OKC star:

“On Saturday, Nike officials told Durant and his team at Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports that it would indeed step up enough to allow the world’s largest shoe and apparel company to keep him in its robust stable of basketball endorsers that includesÂ LeBron JamesandÂ Kobe Bryant.

While the exact Nike offer for Durant isn’t known, sources told ESPN that Durant should make more — in base and royalties — than the Thunder will pay him over the next two seasons ($41.2 million). That’s why fans in Oklahoma City were nervous about a possible move to Under Armour, which could have steered him more to returning to his local roots to play for theÂ Washington WizardsÂ when he becomes a free agent after the 2015-16 season.”

Under Armour signed Stephen Curry away from Nike last year, but is still a minnow in the basketball business.

Nikeâ€™s share, including its Jordan Brand, is 96% in the $4.5 billion basketball shoe market, according to SportsOneSource. Under Armour is sitting at one-quarter of 1%.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix