Nike’s stock hit a 12-year low of $33.87 per share on October 1, following internal changes aimed at cutting costs. The CEO's memo acknowledged focusing more on politics than sports over the past year and hinted at further layoffs ahead. Critics argue that Nike's political stances, such as featuring Colin Kaepernick and Dylan Mulvaney, have alienated some customers and contributed to its declining stock value from an all-time high of $177.51 in November 2021.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
But here were the 33 that stuck out: "Over the past year, we've put sport at the center of everything we do.
asserted
we → stick → everything
We're seeing encouraging signs of progress, but we have more work to do to win over the long term."
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we → see → term
That was sent out on Oct. 1, one day before Nike's stock price closed at $33.87 per share — its lowest in over 12 years.
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price → send → years
The once unstoppable athletic titan expects more layoffs in 2027 after already cutting staff twice this year.
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titan → expect → staff
And you have to wonder if those words above — "over the past year, we've put sport at the center of everything we do" — was as much a confession as it was a mission statement.
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it → have → everything
Nike chose politics over its core identity, and it's desperately trying to course correct.
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it → choose → identity
Last month, Outkick's Dan Zaksheske listed a series of decisions the company made over the past few years aimed at courting a left-wing audience.
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company → list → audience
In 2019, it tapped Colin Kaepernick as the face of its 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign.
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it → tap → campaign
In the wake of George Floyd's death in 2020, it ran its "For Once, Don't Do it" ad, which included lines like "don't pretend there's not a problem in America," and "Don't turn your back on racism."
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which → run → racism
In 2023, it partnered with female-identifying male Dylan Mulvaney to promote women's leggings and sports bras — seemingly unfazed by the backlash Mulvaney's partnership with Bud Light sparked.
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partnership → partner → Light
There was also the "Equality" commercial in 2017 that featured phrases such as "the ball should bounce the same for everyone."
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ball → be → everyone
Now, it wouldn't be fair to say that any one of these campaigns sunk the swoosh's stock on their own.
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one → say → own
Nike's stock hit an all-time closing high of $177.51 per share in November 2021.
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stock → hit → November
But the fact that it has dipped 81% since then?
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it → dip → fact
It's hard not to tie a big chunk of that to the brand's regular offerings at the wokeness altar.
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It → tie → altar
As sports writers such as Ethan Strauss and Dan Wetzel have pointed out, Nike didn't drop Clark's shoe until June of this year.
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Nike → point → year
Strauss wrote earlier that the company felt like it had to debut A'ja Wilson's sneaker before Clark's despite Wilson ranking fifth in WNBA jersey sales and Clark ranking first.
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Clark → write → sales
Although A'ja is almost certainly the best player in the WNBA, nothing moves women's basketball fans (or hoop fans in general?) like anything associated with Caitlin.
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nothing → move → Caitlin
This wasn't necessarily a case of Nike putting sports on the back burner.
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Nike → put → burner
But it did reek of identity politics, which has a way of becoming expensive when a company loses sight of what its customers actually want.
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customers → reek → what
Nike seems to have realized this, but it took it being knocked out of the S&P 100 for the brass to actually do something about it.
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brass → seem → it
Which brings us back to the aforementioned memo.
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Which → bring → memo
Nike CEO Elliott Hill didn't use that note to dwell on the company's past campaigns and advertisements.
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Hill → use → campaigns
He mentioned Nike establishing a new campus in India.
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Nike → mention → India
He emphasized accelerating supply chain modernization efforts.
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He → emphasize → efforts
He discussed Nike's plan to organize into three geographic regions — Americas (North America and Latin America), APGC (Asia Pacific and Greater China) and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
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He → discuss → regions
But it's hard to overlook that one-sentence acknowledgment about prioritizing sport.
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it → overlook → sport
The injection of politics into athletics is almost always a guarantee to shift eyeballs elsewhere.
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injection → shift → eyeballs
The cratering of NBA ratings post 2020 certainly reinforced that notion.
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cratering → reinforce → notion
Seems the injection of politics into athletic brands can be just as corrosive.
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injection → seem → brands
Nike went woke a while ago, and it may finally be waking up to the damage that was caused.
uncertain
that → go → damage
OutKick reached out to Nike for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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OutKick → reach → response
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