Nike dropping golf equipment (merged)

[Arafel]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

No they don't.......Jordan Speith? Adam Scott?

[Sixcat]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

[c. howard]

This thread took a weird turn.

 

Need blackmoonlight to come back asking for pics of the 2017 line!

 

Come on, someone has to be ready to give us a glimpse at what will never be. Give me some encouragement for the weekend!

[Holy Moses]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory had Oakley clothes with Titleist before. So did Zach Johnson.

[Lefty_13]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

 

Yeah if they let Jimmy Walker wear Iliac for some time and Woodland wear UA while he was with them, I think they would happily make an exception for Rory.

[Arafel]

I've seen so many people in these Nike and Golfsmith threads in the last couple of days, giving out uneducated opinions as facts, it's scary.

[dwboston]

Worlds about money. It makes me sick. Greedy corporations pushing people around to line the top of the food chains pockets.

 

Accountants calling the shots every where. Unrealistic sales targets, corporations pushing the working people to make them richer at the expense of family time.

 

Nike not the only offenders. So many like that.

 

Up the revolution!!

Business kind of has to be about making money. And people who launch and run a business should be rewarded very well for the risk they take and the effort they put in to do it. That's very much how the economy works. Nobody's come up with a more successful strategy yet.

world needs businesses yes but most get greedy and push employees around. No morals to them.

 

Let me guess - you voted "remain".

[johnseg]

The funny thing about the square driver is first Nike wasn't the only one making them as others have said and secondly two major championships were won with square drivers.

 

It is funny people want innovation and improving technology but they don't want to adapt.

 

As TW tweeted, Nike really changed golf in that it forced the demise of the would ball. Without Nike is there ever a ProV1? Who knows.

[dwboston]

Worlds about money. It makes me sick. Greedy corporations pushing people around to line the top of the food chains pockets.

 

Accountants calling the shots every where. Unrealistic sales targets, corporations pushing the working people to make them richer at the expense of family time.

 

Nike not the only offenders. So many like that.

 

Up the revolution!!

Business kind of has to be about making money. And people who launch and run a business should be rewarded very well for the risk they take and the effort they put in to do it. That's very much how the economy works. Nobody's come up with a more successful strategy yet.

world needs businesses yes but most get greedy and push employees around. No morals to them.

 

You can thank Wall Street for the level of greed in today's world. It's no longer acceptable to deliver a reasonable profit, but the margin has to also improve year over year. Hey Thanks to Wall Street not to far off Southwest Airlines will go the way of others and force baggage fees. Wouldn't surprise me if ridiculous change fees come as well.

 

As for the demise Nike golf equipment, other than those losing their jobs which I extended my sympathy, this probably is not a bad thing for golf.

 

I think the real issue is golf equipment manufacturers as publicly traded companies, or business units of publicly traded companies. That inexorably leads to the failed TM model of faster product cycles, channel stuffing, pulling sales from the next period with ridiculous incentives, etc., or being sold off/spun out because the equipment business doesn't have the growth characteristics of other businesses in a company's portfolio (see Titleist when it was part of Fortune Brands). It just may be that the right business structure for an equipment company is privately/closely held - like Ping or PXG today. They can set their own product cycles, worry less about short-term market dynamics and earnings, and only have to answer to small group of owners/investors. I hope Titleist doesn't go the IPO route, though the annuity that its golf ball sales represent would likely be tempting to investors, as I could see it pressured to do something similar to what Nike did and get out of equipment in favor of balls and apparel.

[dwboston]

The funny thing about the square driver is first Nike wasn't the only one making them as others have said and secondly two major championships were won with square drivers.

 

It is funny people want innovation and improving technology but they don't want to adapt.

 

As TW tweeted, Nike really changed golf in that it forced the demise of the would ball. Without Nike is there ever a ProV1? Who knows.

 

Wasn't that original Nike multi-layer ball a re-badged Bridgestone ball? And the Pro V1 debuted a few months later in the fall of 2000 - it was clearly in development long before the "Nike" ball debuted with Tiger.

[27x10.5]

What happens with Nike's patents and tech? They still had some great stuff new or current companies could use

[herdman]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

 

Tiger and Michael Jordan(even bigger than Tiger) are Nike icons.

 

I can't imagine Nike will want Tiger using clubs from another manufacturer who competes with them in shoes and apparel. Maybe others but not Tiger. He is a face of Nike.

[avrag]

I started reading this thread yesterday and just made it to the end now. I feel like it peaked in the mid teen page numbers and has been going downhill since. RIP Nike Golf.

A few other Nike threads have since been merged in. The arc of the ENTIRE combined thread is altered DRAMATICALLY. A real page-turner and must re-read.

 

The mods merged a thread I had started with the "Nike dropping golf equipment"-thread, and it makes no sense.

The topic I started dealt with the legacy of Nike as a club maker, not with the announcement per se, and it was meant to be a discussion about the good, the bad and the ugly Nike produced through the years, which has nothing to do with the termination of clubmaking itself and the reasons for the decision.

Also, the title of the topic I started was a question, and most people who commented simply answered to this question. Now their comments are in the merged thread, completely out of context and make no sense at all.

I am totally for merging topics, but this is different.

It is not like a case, in which 5 different people start 5 different threads within 5 minutes in the Tour section, all with the topic "Will Tiger return for the [.... insert a random tournament]?"

[moonshine]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

 

Tiger and Michael Jordan(even bigger than Tiger) are Nike icons.

 

I can't imagine Nike will want Tiger using clubs from another manufacturer who competes with them in shoes and apparel. Maybe others but not Tiger. He is a face of Nike.

I think you are out of touch a bit. TW has not been on Nike golf site for months. Rory is now the face(or was) and TW will never have the long term growth and sales of Michael Jordan...or even LeBron for that matter.

[johnrobison]

Worlds about money. It makes me sick. Greedy corporations pushing people around to line the top of the food chains pockets.

 

Accountants calling the shots every where. Unrealistic sales targets, corporations pushing the working people to make them richer at the expense of family time.

 

Nike not the only offenders. So many like that.

 

Up the revolution!!

Business kind of has to be about making money. And people who launch and run a business should be rewarded very well for the risk they take and the effort they put in to do it. That's very much how the economy works. Nobody's come up with a more successful strategy yet.

world needs businesses yes but most get greedy and push employees around. No morals to them.

Employees should leave for something better then. They're not slaves. That's how a free market works.

[chippa13]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

 

Tiger and Michael Jordan(even bigger than Tiger) are Nike icons.

 

I can't imagine Nike will want Tiger using clubs from another manufacturer who competes with them in shoes and apparel. Maybe others but not Tiger. He is a face of Nike.

 

At this point, Nike clinging to Tiger is like a drowning man wishing for an anchor.

[jslane57]

How many days before Rory is back playing his titleist clubs and winning again. He has never been the same since he put the Nike clubs in his hand. I bet his confidence level goes through he roof again once he is back with titleist!

 

doubt that will happen, He still has a nike clothing deal. Titleist want you head to toe titleist, and footjoy. I am thinking along the lines of Mizuno, srixon, or someone that will allow him to continue wearing nike clothes.

 

Rory wore Oakley head to toe prior to his Nike deal and gamed Titleist clubs and balls. Jordan Spieth plays Titleist and has an apparel deal with Under Armour. Justin Thomas is with Ralph Lauren. Adam Scott is with Uniqlo...................

 

What would be different this time around?

 

Tiger and Michael Jordan(even bigger than Tiger) are Nike icons.

 

I can't imagine Nike will want Tiger using clubs from another manufacturer who competes with them in shoes and apparel. Maybe others but not Tiger. He is a face of Nike.

 

At this point, Nike clinging to Tiger is like a drowning man wishing for an anchor.

You don't think the TW logo goes on? I do. TW is still the face of golf...he just doesn't use golf clubs:) Nike tried to put the Jordan jumpman on golf shoes, goofy! But the TW logo has got to be around for many years I think.

[chippa13]

Tiger is the face of golf has-beens.

[GC70]

http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/koepka-shoots-67-wake-nike-announcement/?cid=Email_FridayNL_20160805

Koepka

[7018]

Sad, sad times for sure. Nike golf has always had a sweet spot for me, in spite of Tiger. I genuinely liked how they were willing to ruffle some feathers to try new things.

 

I heard the news on PGA tour radio, Katrek and McGuinness and every single caller had the same story...."I'm a titleist guy, Nike is junk. But I've never played their clubs and never would consider it". Sad to hear that much close mindedness and obviously a major reason why they couldnt hack it. If more people just gave them a shot, I think they'd have done very very well. Their blades are fantastic. Wedges and putters are some of the best on the market. I'll definitely be trying to find a set or two of the Vapor Pro blades on sale before they disappear.

[GC70]

Here's a good video!

 

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/?cid=Email_FridayNL_20160805

[swoosh21]

Here's a good video

 

<iframe src='http://vplayer.golfchannel.com/p/BxmELC/gc_embedplayer/select/2hPxZs0N0gHl?parentUrl=http%3A//www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/&originalReferrer=playerurl=http%3A//www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/%3Fcid%3DEmail_FridayNL_20160805' height='380' width='560' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' style='border:0;padding:0;margin:0' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>

 

No work

[GC70]

Here's a good video

 

<iframe src='http://vplayer.golfchannel.com/p/BxmELC/gc_embedplayer/select/2hPxZs0N0gHl?parentUrl=http%3A//www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/&originalReferrer=playerurl=http%3A//www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/%3Fcid%3DEmail_FridayNL_20160805' height='380' width='560' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' marginheight='0' marginwidth='0' style='border:0;padding:0;margin:0' allowfullscreen='true'></iframe>

 

No work

 

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/adams-nike-exit-question-market-share-not-quality/?cid=Email_FridayNL_20160805

 

[njlam]

Smart move by Nike.

 

I didn’t think they were capable of it, but the new golf strategy (shoes and apparel only) has been successful for them in tennis for decades.

 

What seems to be common to the OEMs that are struggling in equipment, is that they are owned by global shoe and apparel companies (Nike/Adidas/Puma). Perhaps business success in golf equipment has less to do with fashion, marketing or seasonal newness and more to do with reliability, true innovation and evergreen technologies.

 

UA has been smart not to enter the equipment business. With TM for sale and Callaway and Cleveland with weak financial circumstances, hopefully Asics and New Balance will not make the same mistake Nike and Adidas have.

 

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with fewer golf OEMs. The market is not large enough to support all the current companies. Ping, Titleist, and Mizuno seem to run fine businesses without any goals for world domination. These companies make excellent products that evolve/improve over time. No need for wild colors, crazy names, or fake technologies (ie RZN, speedslot, etc.) to get my attention.

 

True technological innovation, such as cavity-backed irons, Anser-style putters (both Ping), metal woods/drivers graphite shafts, etc . stand the test of time and come along rarely (and not on any market cycle timeline). Today, every OEM has a cavity-backed iron, an Anser-style putter, and a line of metal woods/drivers. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

 

Fake innovation, otherwise known as marketing, requires something new/different every season. Colored drivers, jacked-iron lofts, adjustable clubs are not real innovation, but come along every 6 to 18 months to separate consumers from their wallets. Fake equipment innovations are often gone within a year or two after they are introduced...

 

Nike, along with TM, corrupted the OEM industry by shortening the product cycles and sticking their retailers with unsold inventory every time a marketing cycle required that a “new innovation” needed to be introduced.

Honestly, I can’t think of any Nike golf equipment “innovations” that will be around a year from now.

 

It is doubtful that the Slingshot, Covert (cavity-backed driver), RZN, Flywire (and others too numerous to name) “technologies” will be ever be adopted by any other golf OEM. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery and Nike is leaving the business with almost no long-term impact.

 

If Nike golf equipment was any good, this announcement that they are leaving the business would cause prices of their remaining inventory to jump.

 

I am sure this is not happening.

[sethdavidsdad]

The funny thing about the square driver is first Nike wasn't the only one making them as others have said and secondly two major championships were won with square drivers.

 

It is funny people want innovation and improving technology but they don't want to adapt.

 

As TW tweeted, Nike really changed golf in that it forced the demise of the would ball. Without Nike is there ever a ProV1? Who knows.

 

Wasn't that original Nike multi-layer ball a re-badged Bridgestone ball? And the Pro V1 debuted a few months later in the fall of 2000 - it was clearly in development long before the "Nike" ball debuted with Tiger.

That TW guy also said he won the grand slam really can't believe what he says anyway. LOL

[avrag]

Smart move by Nike.

 

I didn’t think they were capable of it, but the new golf strategy (shoes and apparel only) has been successful for them in tennis for decades.

 

What seems to be common to the OEMs that are struggling in equipment, is that they are owned by global shoe and apparel companies (Nike/Adidas/Puma). Perhaps business success in golf equipment has less to do with fashion, marketing or seasonal newness and more to do with reliability, true innovation and evergreen technologies.

 

UA has been smart not to enter the equipment business. With TM for sale and Callaway and Cleveland with weak financial circumstances, hopefully Asics and New Balance will not make the same mistake Nike and Adidas have.

 

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with fewer golf OEMs. The market is not large enough to support all the current companies. Ping, Titleist, and Mizuno seem to run fine businesses without any goals for world domination. These companies make excellent products that evolve/improve over time. No need for wild colors, crazy names, or fake technologies (ie RZN, speedslot, etc.) to get my attention.

 

True technological innovation, such as cavity-backed irons, Anser-style putters (both Ping), metal woods/drivers ™ graphite shafts, etc . stand the test of time and come along rarely (and not on any market cycle timeline). Today, every OEM has a cavity-backed iron, an Anser-style putter, and a line of metal woods/drivers. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

 

Fake innovation, otherwise known as marketing, requires something new/different every season. Colored drivers, jacked-iron lofts, adjustable clubs are not real innovation, but come along every 6 to 18 months to separate consumers from their wallets. Fake equipment innovations are often gone within a year or two after they are introduced...

 

Nike, along with TM, corrupted the OEM industry by shortening the product cycles and sticking their retailers with unsold inventory every time a marketing cycle required that a “new innovation” needed to be introduced.

Honestly, I can’t think of any Nike golf equipment “innovations” that will be around a year from now.

 

It is doubtful that the Slingshot, Covert (cavity-backed driver), RZN, Flywire (and others too numerous to name) “technologies” will be ever be adopted by any other golf OEM. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery and Nike is leaving the business with almost no long-term impact.

 

If Nike golf equipment was any good, this announcement that they are leaving the business would cause prices of their remaining inventory to jump.

 

I am sure this is not happening.

 

Cleveland is owned by Srixon. Srixon is owned by SRI, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Rubber Industries. They are not in weak finacial circumstances. The Cleveland brand is now exclusively used by Srixon for wedges. There are no other new Cleveland clubs anymore.

[MileHighClub]

Survival of the fittest. If you make a good quality product that is priced competitively, and you don't throw irresponsibly ridiculous amounts of money at endorsers, you can make it in this business. Nike didn't do that. They are smart to stick with the apparel and shoes because that is what they do best.

[Swashbuckler]

Now that T-dub is finished and cannot carry Nike equipment any longer, they are finished and going back to apparel and shoes.. Makes sense...

 

No offense but in my opinion, Ive always thought Nike equipment was inferior and only survived on Tiger and loyal Nike brand people. Rory just fizzled and they are losing tons of money. Nike is so strong in other sports, they didn't need golf anyway and they were doomed the day Tiger hit a tree with his car fleeing his wife bashing in his window and the scandal began..

[Aggers]

Absolutely no surprise that Nike have pulled out of the hardware departments. TBH their clubs just did not lend themselves to the "better" golfer, I believe! They signed Tiger as a brand ambassador and "made" him commit to Nike equipment! Rory the same. Just because you have two of the great golfers, does it mean you are the best OEM. Apart from a few models of iron and some of their balls, they were not really at the races in regard as producing a top range when compared to the competition. Some of their woods where shocking and well the Slingshot, I rest my case.

 

It would be interesting to see where the contracted, guys will go to now? Also I would like to see what the players would use if it was their own choice rather than being paid, as per the picture of Tigers bag earlier!

[eldog-in-the-hizouse]

Trying to compare Tiger's over all appeal to Michael Jordan's is a huge stretch. Tiger was the face of Nike golf, and he did not make them a golf equipment powerhouse. The true blue loyal Nike equipment fans may also be die hard Tiger fans, but there are not enough of them to carry the brand. They have 3% of the market share. One of the current staffers just said he has NEVER seen a Nike club in the bag of one of his pro-am partners at a PGA golf tournament. In the 20 years they have been in business, well over 2,000 rounds of golf in this country, I can count on one hand any time I have ever seen a Nike club in someone's bag. I have used some of their clubs off and on over the years, but only because a friend of mine has a Nike clubs account. My home club hosts a Web.com tour event. I saw lots of young players in the Web.com tournament with the new blue Nike bags, but Nike never shows up to the club's demo days that all of the other oem's come to, and the pro shops here carry next to nothing Nike. It just doesn't sell. They have had some great looking irons and some nice woods, but it's a stretch to say any of it was BETTER than the competition. I believe in most cases people did not want to try out Nike clubs BECAUSE of Tiger's affiliation with them. He's a very polarizing person. I love the new LC4 shoes and I wear some of their hats, that is what they do well.