Nike, which this season will be an on-ice licensee for
seven NHL teams, "will drop that association perhaps as soon
as the end of this season," according to sources of Terry
Lefton of BRANDWEEK, who writes at the "heart of the break-
up," was Nike's "unwillingness to pay the league's asking
prices of more than" $10M a year for a six-year deal. While
league officials "insist efforts are still being made at the
highest levels to keep Nike in the NHL fold," Nike officials
say the league has already "hinted that Nike should find a
way to exit gracefully before the fifth and final year of
their deal" this season. A Nike source said that pressure
by the league "was in deference to deals the NHL was cutting
with future on-ice licensees" Pro Player, incumbent CCM, and
Rival, the NHL's joint apparel venture with Texfi. Lefton:
"Assuming that cast of characters is set in stone, that
would mean incumbent licensee Starter is also out." One
exec familiar with the talks: "We're coming off a season
when TV ratings were down, and, if you look at our exposure
(on ice), it's on the back of jerseys, which really made
(Nike) question the value." Lefton adds that Nike plans to
use the money it had been devoting to the NHL "to increase
hockey player associations; to maintain and increase team
sponsorships; to forge alliances with overseas hockey
organizations; and to return to its guerilla ways of pegging
itself more with the athlete than the official organization"
(Terry Lefton, BRANDWEEK, 9/14 issue).
SAVE THE SWOOSH: Nike Dir of Communications Lee
Weinstein, on a N.Y. Times Magazine report that Nike may
tone down its use of the swoosh: "We're always looking at
different ways to use the Swoosh logo" (N.Y. POST, 9/15).
