Nike sent shock waves through the world of golf Wednesday when it announced that it is getting out of the golf equipment business — clubs, balls, bags — all the stuff that doesn’t make much money.
Instead, Nike is going to focus on the things it is better known for — shoes and apparel.
Nike’s Trevor Edwards gave a statement that the company “will transition out of equipment, including clubs, ball, and bags to focus on footwear and apparel.”
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will now be looking for a new equipment sponsor as will others like Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau, to name a few of the PGA Tour staff players. “I just heard in the last hour so it’s still a little bit of a shock to say the least,” said Finau, as he wound up his preparation for this week’s tour stop — The Travelers.
Nike got into golf in 1984 but didn’t start producing equipment until 2002. Once it did, it went out and paid Tiger Woods handsomely to be the face of the brand. With Tiger’s career winding down, Nike gave Rory McIlroy a $200 million-plus contract.
It remains to be seen how Nike will handle the marketing of its clothes and shoes but it is likely to add more staff members to wear those products.
It was a lesson for Nike. Put mildly, people just weren’t buying the clubs. The markup on equipment is only about 30 percent compared to 100 percent or more for clothes and shoes. Clubs get marked down quickly when they don’t sell and often it is the retailers taking a bath.
So finally, when the numbers kept coming up red, Nike followed it’s own marketing slogan.
They “just did it” and got the heck out of that arena.
