Bloody Elbow reports that Nike’s sponsorship of Jon Jones did not usurp the sponsorship of Manny Pacquiao. Dana White originally indicated that Nike was “shutting down” the Manny Pacquiao line for Jones.
Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz told BoxingScene.com that Nike execs found White’s comments “pretty amusing.” Koncz indicated that Nike had new deals in store for Pacquiao.
Payout Perspective:
Bear in mind that there are several layers here with the reports, but the essence is that Nike is not shutting down Manny Pacquiao’s Nike sponsorship or his apparel line. While MMA is a sport that’s on the rise, Pacquiao is one of the most popular and recognizable figures in the sports world. Nike would not pick one over the other. Furthermore, Nike has the resources to have both a Jon Jones and Manny Pacquiao line of clothing at the same time (read sarcasm).
Perhaps we’re taking White’s comments too literal. But to say Nike would shut down promoting one of the top draws in the world would be insane. Not only does the statement sound uninformed, it drew the response from Nike.
By the way, I doubt Pacquiao is losing any sleep with losing his Nike sponsorship as he’s the second highest paid athlete* in the world according to Forbes. And, there would be another company ready to pick him up if Nike dropped him.
*If you were wondering about #1…its Floyd Mayweather.
Is Jon Jones the top UFC’s darling… 9,382 on that list?
“While MMA is a sport that’s on the rise”
BHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The comments were silly and I never believed them for a second. Doesn’t mean this isn’t a great deal for Jones and it’s a good thing for MMA that one of the top stars is getting a deal with the biggest sports apparel company. You guys laugh and mock the sport because it sometimes falls short of the numbers achieved by the organizations and stars of long, long, long time established, far more mainstream sports, but MMA is just fine. If they can address the over-saturation problem, which I believe is a big part of what’s keeping them from making stars (too many events means they have to hold tight to their strategy of promoting the brand over the fighters, and they need to realize this is not the way they will make the most money/raise the profile of the sport the most), then they’ll just need to take more steps to shy away from the PPV model (which doesn’t work for sports that seek to be mainstream and play with the big boys). All this doom and gloom talk is short-sighted nonsense.
“While MMA is a sport that’s on the rise”
stuck in the past, at the moment its on a slump ( putting it lightly) MMA as a whole is losing popularity(sadly)
MMA is doing fine, but it’s not going to get much bigger than it is today. If we’re not at a peak then we’re definitely at a plateau. Further growth in N. America will be slow and difficult.
It’s a good deal for Jones but I don’t know what it does for the sport. It says more about where Jones is in his career than where MMA is in the public consciousness. After all, Manny’s Nike sponsorship isn’t doing a damn thing for boxing. It only helps Manny.
” Not only does the statement sound uninformed, it drew the response from Nike.”
What response from Nike? Is Jason Cruz saying that Koncz works for Nike as well as Pac?
Not exactly Ron. Koncz spoke to Nike execs that heard the comments made by White which drew the response by Nike execs that White’s comments were “amusing”. Koncz is not on Nike’s payroll.
If White does not say they are closing out Pacquiao’s line of clothing, Nike execs don’t say anything about White.