How Nike Lost Messi

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Adidas vs. Nike
01:16 How Nike Signed Messi & Ronaldo
03:53 ...and then lost one
05:16 The 🐐 Debate

🎬 About
Athletic Interest is a video essay series that investigates business stories from the world of sports.

📚 Sources
[3] Messi vs. Ronaldo: One Rivalry, Two GOATs, and the Era That Remade the World's Game (by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson)

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#nike #messi #adidas

[AthleticInterest]

💡 Slight update: at 2:28 we say that there are only three athletes with a lifetime Nike deal, but Kevin Durant became the fourth one earlier this week.

[nafikr]

So Nike lost Messi and Steph Curry, crazy how both of them has become the face of Adidas and Under Armour

[alexlee]

Thought of Ronaldo and Messi being in the same commercial before worldcup give me chills

[da_ganglife]

Crazy how all of Ronaldo's clubs wore Adidas and his national team wore Nike. Then it's the opposite of for Messi, his clubs wore Nike and his country wears Adidas 💀

[kasinathrajagopal]

So is it right to say that Messi was one of the best things happened to Adidas

[lrlwbw]

Messi is the face of football and Adidas made the deal of sports history.

[salsadancer]

It is amazing that in this world of marketing personalities which has to be a model like Ronaldo or controversial like Maradonna or charismatic like pele or Muhammed Ali a combination of all, someone can still shine through by purely their performance even tho they are an introvert. I think that is Messi's biggest achievement in this world of smoke and mirrors.

[kntfhvn]

I'm surprised this channel hasn't blown up yet. Been an avid follower since the beginning and looking forward to see more growth and success coming to you and your team. cheers and keep up the great content brother.

[kmart]

I’m just grateful for all the insane memories both Messi and Ronaldo gave us over the span of their careers and still continue to give

[YoYo-tnyj]

Messi and Ronaldo together in Nike would make Adidas non existent

[LaMessi]

Adidas will always be known as the brand who signed Greatest player ever.

[lamp]

Messi probably carried Adidas through this whole 15 years by himself, of course a lot of famous footballers also use or have used Adidas, but having Messi always gave Adidas an edge against Nike

[jouzu]

Imagine losing the best player of all time because you forgot to make a proper contract

[Liquidcadmus]

None of these are correct, I am Argentine and I remember clearly that when Messi decided to go for Adidas it was because Nike is involved in a lot of shady stuff and Messi didn't want to be associated with that, eventhough Nike offered him more money than Adidas.
This was talked about by people in Messi's personal circle, and it came out in the media here in Argentina.

[BOABModels]

1:50 One bizarre thing about this advert, which you would never see these days, is that players were wearing their club and national strips, regardless of whether they were Nike branded - Ronaldo is in the Umbro Brazil kit for instance.

[gaming_junge]

Can you make a video about EA Sports and why their next game will have the name EA Sports FC 24 and why they lost the licences for FIFA??

[Wizzkidwas]

4:34
This is exactly what happened with Oscar Piastri and Alpine in F1 during 2022

[nikhilkalyan]

Wish Adidas got Haaland to continue this battle to the next generation.

[iraklimodebadze]

Huge supporter of your videos and businesswise sports stories with numbers and money. Love your graphic work and narrating style. Just keep going and post more often 🙏❤

[economicsofentertainment]

In a weird way, I am glad it didn't work out. It is always nice to see balance.