Nike has Left the Building

             In August, the sports giant, Nike, announced that they would no longer be producing golf equipment. This comes as a big surprise as Nike Golf has been a huge part of many major victories over the past 20 years. Having two powerhouse players such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy under their belt, you would assume they were in safe ground. However, with Woods' injuries and absence in tournament play for over a year now, this may have contributed to Nike’s decision.

            Nike released big profits overall in the last year, however, the one thing that stuck out was Nike Golf’s $91 million loss: the loss that has been continuous throughout the years. The general public are just more interested in purchasing Titleist or Taylormade clubs than risk changing to Nike equipment. Nike has also been known for vibrant coloured equipment from red to blue to lime green. I personally found the colour schemes for their clubs to be too obnoxious and tacky for the golfing industry…maybe the colours are more suited for the soccer or basketball industry, but not golf.

            One of the biggest golf club equipment companies, Titleist, have a common routine on how they market their golf clubs. They find young players who have potential and get them signed up for a low cost. Nike, on the other hand, wait for the players to become established within the golfing world and then sign them with a lot of money involved. For example, Rory McIlroy signed with Nike Golf when he was right at the top and then when he started using Nike Golf Equipment, his game deteriorated rapidly, which was very bad publicity for Nike Golf.

            Nike is going to continue selling and marketing golf clothing which the article below will illustrate. However, this leaves Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods now open to sponsorship for golf clubs. Which company will sweep them up?

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/report-world-no-1-jason-day-to-sign-apparel-deal-with-nike