Nike’s new NFL uniforms were unveiled today and we like what we see. Concerns over the potential for radical changes (a la Oregon Ducks) proved unwarranted. While fluorescents did make its way into the new Seattle Seahawks jerseys redesign, there was an obvious effort to respect league history (see pics below).
In typical Nike fashion, there are visible improvements to the finer elements (e.g. seem location and weight). Importantly, Nike didn’t need to make a big splash in its first big NFL reveal, it just needed to give consumers enough reason to come back and see what they come up with next and that is exactly what they did. As expected, the Nike/NFL era has started in favorable field position.
For additional perspective, here is a sense of the P&L contribution from our note titled "NKE: Eight Bucks:"
“By our math, the NFL deal, which flips from adibok to Nike in early April, will probably be around $200-$300mm in year 1. That’s the lower end of where Reebok had it. That’s also why we think Nike will double this rate in year 2. And likely grow it by 50% in year 3. If this is the case in year 1, then let’s say $200mm of it is set for delivery within Nike’s current futures window. Assuming that 85% of Nike’s US business is on the futures program, that suggests that the NFL deal helped futures by about 5%. So…22% minus 5% = 17% growth in North American futures. For what it’s worth, we have to look back to the Clinton Administration to find the last time the North American business grew at this pace – and back then the company was stuffing the channel with apparel product and was STILL half the size it is today.”
Casey Flavin
Director