Inside NIKE: Creates athletic footwear and apparel and is focusing on a new sport offense

NIKE designs and sells athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment across its NIKE, Jordan, and Converse brands. Revenue flows through global wholesale partnerships and direct-to-consumer digital and physical retail channels. Their customers range from professional athletes to everyday consumers. Leadership is currently prioritizing a shift away from classic lifestyle shoes, steering the business back toward performance sports.

The company's core strategic initiative is the "Sport Offense," which serves as an accelerator for their "Win Now" turnaround strategy. Leadership's key goals are returning to double-digit profit margins, expanding the wholesale business, and delivering a continuous flow of new innovations. They are executing this by completely restructuring the organization to align cross-functional teams directly by sport, rather than demographic categories.

What You'll Learn. We explore the structural marketplace challenges NIKE faces in Greater China and the profitability pressures from U.S. tariffs and aggressive inventory clearance. You'll also discover where they see immediate growth opportunities, specifically in North American wholesale, running, and global football. This episode features direct insights from President and CEO Elliott Hill and CFO Matt Friend.

All sourced directly from NIKE's own leadership at their 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting and earnings calls