Not too long ago, Under Armor offered Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant a ten-year deal worth between $265 million and $285 million. Nike was given the chance to counter that offer.
Now, according to Darren Rovell and Marc Stein of ESPN, it looks like Nike has indeed countered Under Armor’s offer for Durant and will retain the five-time all-star for the next ten years. Nike’s counter offer is unknown at this moment but, over the next two years, it figures to pay Durant way more money than his remaining $41. 2 million contract with Oklahoma City, reports ESPN.
Nike is the world’s largest shoe company that features other big time NBA stars as well, such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. 284 total NBA players are sponsored by Nike, but they still did not want to lose Kevin Durant, and it was not too difficult for them to match the offer from Under Armor.
“For Nike, this was nothing to them,” Omar Saad, the senior managing director of ISI’s luxury, apparel and footwear team, told ESPN. “They could easily build Durant’s business enough, assuming normal margins, where they could generate a cash flow of $60 million a year. And Nike is really good at monetizing things way better than anyone else.”
For Under Armor, signing Kevin Durant would have been a gigantic move for them. Under Armor is not popular amongst the NBA world. Their biggest NBA star is Stephen Curry. Aside from him, they also have Brandon Jennings, Raymond Felton, Kemba Walker, Greivis Vasquez, and eight others. Under Armor believed that Durant would generate a bunch of revenue and overseas popularity for them.
However, competing against Nike proved to not be an easy task for Under Armor, even with Under Armor’s shockingly large offer for the reigning MVP.