Nike's Pop Culture Meets Sporting World's Sub-Culture

Nike SB ("SB" for skateboarding) was launched in 2001, Nike 6.0 (named for six action sports activities) was started in 2005, and Nike Snow (covering snowboarding and skiing) was launched in 2007.
Women are under-represented among the top-earning athletes as Sharapova emerged the only athlete in the distaff side to make it to the top 50 for the second straight year. She ranks 29th with earnings of $24.2 million, largely from her lucrative Nike Zoom Kobe deal, which pays her royalties on her lines of tennis apparel and Cole Haan shoes.
Completing the top 10 list of highest paid athletes are tennis’ Roger Federer, 4th; golf’s Phil Mickelson, 5th; soccer’s David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, 6th and seventh; Alex Rodriguez of baseball,8th; racing ace Michael Schumacher, 9th; and Lionel Messi, also of soccer, 10th.
Federer is listed to have the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports with 10, including those with Women's Nike Dunks Low, Credit Suisse, Rolex and Wilson, where most of his $47million income comes from. Mickelson, in spite of having been diagnosed to have been suffering from psoriatic arthritis, still able to earn $46 million. Becham earned $40 million in the same period, Ronaldo $38 million, Rodriguez $35 million, Schumacher $34 million and Messi $32.3 million. The magazine’s figures were based on salaries, bonuses, prize money, appearance fees, licensing and endorsement income in the 12 months ending May 1. Taxes or agents’ fees were not deducted.
And in 2002, Nike Dunks purchased Hurley International LLC, an established action sports brand based in Costa Mesa, Calif. Hurley is often a co-sponsor with Nike of action sports events, as is another Nike subsidiary, Converse Inc. of North Andover, Mass.
"They've been going after the action sports market for a while now," said Mitchel J. Kummetz, a senior research analyst specializing in active and outdoor sportswear for the Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. "Initially to no real avail -- which is part of the reason they acquired Hurley."
Nike also stumbled in its first marketing presentations to the action sports core. The initial commercials of at least a decade ago, Kummetz said, indicated the company did not identify with the consumers they were pursuing.
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But about five or six years ago, Women's Nike Air Force 1 got lucky. "It's almost like the market discovered them versus them doing a lot to create demand for their product," Kummetz said.