32 Super Interesting Facts About Nike That You Should Know

The one sports brand that is super popular, loved, and among the most coveted, is Nike. Perfection, superior quality, and uber-stylish products are the three pillars on which the brand has been built, allowing it to be successful for the past 50 years.

For all the lovers of this renowned brand, here we present 32 super interesting facts about Nike that you should know.

1. The word “Nike” is derived from the Greek goddess of victory, who is also called the “Winged Goddess.”
2. The name “Nike” was not the first choice of the founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. They had almost finalized the name “Dimension 6.”
3. Founder Phil Knight conceived the idea of starting a shoe company while he was writing his college papers.
4. Carolyn Davidson, a Portland State University student designed the logo for just $35! But, following the super popularity of the swoosh logo, the company gave her shares in the company and as a token of appreciation, and a gold and diamond swoosh ring.
5. The first Nike shoes were made using waffle irons as the iron plates created the grooved pattern which ensures a good grip of the ground.
6. Romanian tennis player, Ilie Nastase, who won the Grand Slam twice, was the first athlete who was signed to promote Nike in the year 1972.
7. “Cortez” was the name of the first shoe design from Nike. Initially. Nike wanted to name the design Aztec. But since Adidas already had a line, called the Aztec Gold,” they renamed their shoe.
8. Being sponsored by Nike, skater Bam Margera had to compulsorily wear Nike shoes. But he had great difficulty skating in the Nike shoes, so he used to cut out the Nike logo and paste it on shoes that he was comfortable in while skateboarding!
9. Nike’s slogan “Just Do It” is inspired by the last words of a serial killer. Just before execution, the serial killer Gary Gilmore said: “Let’s Do It.”
10. The consolidated sales, comprising of Nike shoes, apparels and accessories, stand at more than 900 million products every year.
11. In 1985 when Nike launched Air Jordan I, Michael Jordan was brought on board as its brand ambassador. It was before Jordan had created a name for himself in basketball, but he had just started to build his own fan base.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Kuz86MLTs
12. Michael Jordon was not a fan of Nike products and was on the verge of declining to be the brand ambassador. But, on his parent’s insistence, he attended the meeting and rather than declining the offer, and he did accepted it!
13. Nike shoes violated NBA league’s policy and players wearing the shoes were fined $5000 for every game. But the hefty fine could not deter Michael Jordan from wearing Nike shoes.
14. Nike is the first brand to use a Beatles song for a TV commercial. It was when Nike launched its Air Max collection that Beatles’ song “Revolution” was first used in a TV commercial.
15. In Michael J. Fox’s Batman movie, “Back to the future part 2,” Batman’s boots as well as boarding boots were designed by Tinker Hatfield, who is also Nike’s shoe designer.
16. Nike has a shoe design patented where the Nike shoe is embedded with a computing device. This allows the user of the Nike shoe to pair their shoes with their smartphone.
17. When it comes to the athletic shoe market, Nike holds a whopping percentage of the market share, which is more than 62 percent, thereby making it the largest market shareholder in this segment.
18. The Nike outlet at London’s Oxford Street is the largest Nike store and it comprises a total of 42,000 square feet!
19. In 1984, Bill Woods started Nike Golf as a branch of the parent company. But it was only after Tiger Woods was signed for the brand in 1996 that Nike Golf became much popular.
20. Old Nike shoes are recycled at Nike Grinds. The recycled shoe material is then used for making children’s tracks and playgrounds.
21. The University of Oregon is heavily backed by Nike. Its sports teams receive not just Nike products like shoes and apparel but also funding.
22. Not all products from Nike are as popular as the others and among the least popular are acid-washed golf shorts, which was introduced in 1991.
23. The names of several products from Nike are not just appropriate names chosen to best suit the product line. They are often inspired by the names of sports teams.
24. In 1995, Nike launched it’s now popular shoes, Zoom Air. This highly in demand shoes were previously named as Tensile Air.
25. Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal, who is popularly known as Shaq, did not want to enter into a contract with Nike. And to show his unwillingness, he dressed in Reebok apparel when he went to meet the owners of Nike.
26. Lebron James was offered $90 million when he was just 19 years old, exactly a year after he rejected Reebok’s offer of $10 million.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlItYKCtQ-8
27. Nike offered a bonus with each new record set, and to maximize this bonus, Sergei Bubka broke his own record 14 times in world pole vault!
28. A Nike commercial released during the 1980s had a Kenyan tribesman speaking, which was translated to the company’s slogan “Just Do It.” But an American anthropologist pointed out that the tribesman was saying something else!
29. Nike reportedly offered $1.5 million to Chumbawamba for their song “Tubthumping” which the company wanted to use for their FIFA world cup commercial. But the offered was turned down immediately.
30. Since Nike did not have advertising rights during the Olympics, 2012, the company came up with the innovative idea of having fluorescent running shoes. These bright colored running shoes were worn by more than 400 athletes and it indeed drew a lot of attention.
31. Nike commissioned Casey Neistat for making a “Make it Count” themed commercial. But he simply took a vacation with the budget and filmed himself running at each destination. Surprisingly enough, Nike loved the commercial.
32. YouTube’s first million viewers video was for a Nike commercial featuring Ronaldinho.