Casemiro is playing for the Adidas Predators after teammate Lisandro Martinez done the same, Harry Kane is wearing Skechers, and three Manchester City players have signed with Puma.
Not to mention the end of a $500 million contract with Tiger Woods that lasted 27 years.
The problem with having the world’s top athletes wear your brand is that it’s quite visible when they stop wearing it – which is where Nike is currently stuck.
The American sportswear brand is currently losing top talent as financial realities bite.
Nike shattered the holiday spirit on December 22 by stating that it will need to save a staggering $2 billion [£1.6 billion] over the next three years due to low sales.
Their efforts to’streamline the organisation’ are anticipated to entail employment layoffs, product simplicity, and increasing automation.
Last Monday, Nike said that two percent of its 83,000 global employees would be laid off as a result.
This announcement appears to have had a trickle-down impact in the sports world.
Unless you’re a Nike for Life athlete, which includes football great Cristiano Ronaldo as well as basketball luminaries Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant, your rich endorsement deal is unlikely to be renewed anytime soon.
England captain Kane began wearing blacked-out boots last summer, just before his £100 million transfer from Tottenham to Bayern Munich.
It was shortly revealed that Kane had switched from Nike to a lifelong relationship with American footwear brand Skechers, which was making its first push into the football boot market.
When officially launched, Kane stated that “there is loads more to come in this partnership,” implying a partnership akin to tennis player Andy Murray’s with start-up Castore in 2019.
Murray not only wears Castore clothes and has his own label with them, but he is also a shareholder and advisor to the board. In November, Castore was valued at £950 million.
That is small in comparison to Nike and Adidas’ valuations, but it demonstrates that leading athletes cherish the opportunity to have a little more say in what they wear.
Kane’s move to Bayern, where shirt sales broke all club records, immediately provided Skechers an advantage in a new market.
Other players simply want a good pair of boots to wear. Martinez, a Manchester United and Argentina defender, switched from Nike to Adidas last year, and the German brand recently added midfielder Casemiro.
The Brazilian had worn Nike footwear throughout his career, but wore Adidas Predators when United faced Aston Villa last weekend.
According to this week’s Mail Sport United Confidential piece, United’s Diogo Dalot has also switched from Nike to bright pink Puma footwear for Sunday’s triumph over Luton.
In the last year, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish, Mateo Kovacic, and Manuel Akanji have all signed with Puma.