Retailers like Nike are banking on profits from Olympics partnerships

What’s a great way to sell more shoes? Well, for Nike, it’s the upcoming Olympic Games in July.

Last week, the athletic footwear and apparel retailer revealed its Olympic kits for teams it’s sponsoring in Paris this summer. That includes American athletes across all sports, along with all Canadian, Chinese, German, Kenyan, and Ugandan teams, and the basketball teams of France, Japan, and Spain. Whew! Nike also designed a kit for Korea for a new breakdancing event, Reuters reported.

In December 2023, Nike cautioned that decreased consumer spending would impact its profit outlook. It would seem the retailer is banking on regaining some of the market share its lost to competitors like Hoka and Lululemon through the attention it generates during the Olympics.

But the brand is certainly not alone in trying to elevate its profits on the back of the Olympics. Retailers including luxury conglomerate LVMH and sporting goods brands Decathlon and Fanatics, and even grocer Carrefour, have struck up partnerships with the games.

And why not? Event organizers estimated that brands would earn $100 million through sales of licensed products around the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.