Nike x Adidas Are Heating Up

…with the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Billie Eilish, and Charli XCX all rocking Converse. Looking good > arch support, every time.

IMAX is getting into sports, hosting a party for Penn State’s White Out game against Washington on the biggest of big screens. You ever tailgate in a movie theater parking lot?

If you hear anyone say women’s college basketball will be short on stars after Caitlin Clark’s departure, they aren’t paying attention. JuJu Watkins, Paige Bueckers, Flau’jae Johnson, Hannah Hildago and so many more are ready to carry the torch.

Nelly Korda, Gabby Thomas and Suni Lee will make their Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debuts in 2025. That’s a lot of gold medals.

Gen Alpha has its first alpha dog in Cooper Flagg, whose Duke career began last night. It can be hard to realize with LeBron and Stephen Curry still banging around the NBA, but the next, next generation is already here.

@ncaachamps

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Nike and Adidas are both at a crossroads, the former still looking to turn the once-dominant Swoosh-ship around, the latter riding high off of an impressive recovery over the past two years. With both companies looking to assert their dominance over sports culture and the sneaker game, they’re doing battles where most public battles between megacorporations play out: the ads. And folks, the ads are good.

Nike, and long standing partner Wieden+Kennedy, has consistently prided itself in delivering the right ad at the right moment, as they did with the recent championship wins from the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Dodgers. But often, their best work celebrates the power of the everyday athlete, as this spot released ahead of the NYC Marathon shows.

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Nike—which has been accused of drifting away from the culture of late—has also shown it’s still down the with the kids, recreating an iconic Nike Football ad to celebrate the second iteration of its collab with London streetwear king Corteiz. They’ve also once again embraced their edge, pushing the new tagline of “Winning Isn’t For Everyone.” 

Adidas is matching blow for blow. David Beckham took football fans behind the scenes and into the workshop while designing his latest pair of “Predator” cleats and has increasingly leaned on the rising stock of Jude Bellingham in recent months. The brand also released the latest in a long line of killer campaigns for Anthony Edward’s AE 1, the hottest basketball sneaker on the market, that flexed Antman’s emerging superstar aura.

There’s more than just bragging rights at stake here. Adidas’ resurgence has hit Nike where it hurts the most. But the Swoosh isn’t used to playing defense and has come out swinging. It’s now fighting off competition from Adidas and a bunch of newer players the only way it knows how—on the front foot.

@evhandagain

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It’s hard to overstate the impact creators and influencers have already had on the sporting world. The NIL era was ushered in thanks to a court case brought by Sedona Prince—who was the same player that showed the world the paltry excuse for a weight room that was available to women’s teams competing in March Madness. That’s influence.

But the changes that creators are enacting on the sporting world go beyond court decisions and social media pile-ons. Given the wide range of content made now that every person has a production studio in their pocket, the media world is way more than highlight shows. There are accounts solely dedicated to the fashion of F1 drivers and basketball players. There are in-depth breakdowns of plays, but also of on-court and off-court beefs between players. There is power in a niche.

Leagues and teams know the impact of online conversation, and are pouring resources, time and money into supporting the creator class. The NBA recently opened up its content vault to creators in an effort to keep the league top of mind for the next generation of fans.

Creators and influencers are working even more closely with leagues in some cases. The WNBA’s relationship with its top TikTok stars is an example of a smooth operation. Once again, the W runs ahead of the trend.

@ariivory

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Some creators are changing the sports they cover. Golf content has a massive audience on YouTube, but the most-viewed videos are not highlight reels of the top players in the top leagues, they’re of the biggest personalities having fun on the course, sometimes with celebrities and other times just with their own production groups.

Whether it's golfing with NBA stars, doing trick shots with the Dude Perfect crew, or breaking down courtside seats as if they were the Met Gala, there’s a sports niche online for basically every type of fan you can imagine. The creators run the show.