Nike, a multinational corporation with $17.92 billion in annual sale, faced stock crash after the Duke and North Carolina university basketball match that took on Wednesday, February 20, 2019.
Duke University’s basketball superstar and -No.1 NBA Draft pick, - Zion Williamson’s sneaker fell apart less than a minute into a game. The match was against the University of North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. This rivalry match drew the public’s attention even before it started, and the most expensive ticket was sold at $10,652 which is much higher price than the get-in price for Super Bowl 53 ticket -$2,989.
Barack Obama, who is former president of United States, was sitting at the Courtside when he pointed at Williamson and said, “His shoe broke.” Every camera captured Williamson’s exploded shoe - Nike Paul George 2.5 PE model. The ripped sole of the Nike shoe was dangling from the toe box. Williamson had to leave the game with a knee sprain. The game ended 88-72, Duke scored 72.
Nike stock went down 1.7% after the incident. The company wished Zion’s fast recovery and backed up the situation by making a statement to newspaper outlets. “The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”
In 2018, Nike sponsored 85 basketball teams during NCAA tournament. Moreover, the company is in a four-year contract with Duke as the exclusive commodity supplier. As Nike depends on a great amount of promotion from sports athletes, Williamson’s shoe explosion is a fatal blot on the company’s sound reputation they built for over 47 years since 1972.
In March 14, a month after the sneaker explosion, Zion Williamson was back in the court wearing a new pair of custom Nike shoe with Duke’s logo on the heel. Duke beat Syracuse University scoring 84-72 in the ACC basketball tournament. On February 2, 2019, after the incident, Nike stock rated 83.57 USD. However, the company has bounced back and rated 87.99 USD on March 01, 2019.
Written by Jieon Kum | Staff Writer
jkum@masonlive.gmu.edu
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