Nike Drops Sponsorship Of Jailed English Soccer Player

Nike Severs Ties With Barton

Nike has ended its sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Newcastle United MF Joey Barton, who "recently completed a jail term for assault," according to Darren Davidson of BRAND REPUBLIC. Nike made the decision to sever ties with Barton, whose two-year contract with the company was "believed to have been worth [US$75,159] a year, when he was imprisoned for assault in May." Nike U.K. PR Manager Leo Sandino-Taylor said, "While Joey Barton is a talented footballer, we cannot condone or accept what he did and his contract has been terminated." Barton recently served 74 days of a six-month jail sentence after a December '07 fight in which Barton "punched one man 20 times and left a teenage boy with broken teeth." Davidson writes Nike's "tough stance contrasts with Newcastle United's treatment" of Barton, as the team has "reportedly decided against enforcing him to take a cut on his" US$112,813 per week salary (BRANDREPUBLIC.com, 7/30). In London, Rob Stewart reports Nike "felt that Barton ... had damaged their reputation." Sandino-Taylor: "We have provisions in all our sponsorship contracts to take into account any actions by athletes that bring the brand into disrepute" (London TELEGRAPH, 7/30).