There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between Nike’s branding and the sporting good giant’s political leanings.
What We Know:
- Colin Kaepernick is Nike’s $6 billion dollar man — Nike shares have surged 36 percent on the year, making the company the top performer on the Dow’s index of 30 blue-chip stocks. The run-up includes a nearly 5 percent increase since Nike’s Labor Day announcement that Kaepernick would be featured in its campaign, adding nearly $6 billion to the company’s market value.
- Nike has caught heat from right-leaning supporters for its decision to feature Colin Kaepernick in the company’s latest ad campaign, a new report from the Center for Responsive Politics — a non-profit, non-partisan research group focusing on money in politics — shows that Nike employees and its political action committee have donated more than three times as much money to republican candidates as democratic challengers for the 2018 election season.
- In total, Nike has given $424,000 to the GOP compared to $122,000 to Democrats. The findings follow a recent trend showing Nike has donated more to Republicans than Democrats in every election cycle since 2010 with the exception of 2016.
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According to the report, nearly half of all donated funds from Nike employees has come from co-founder Phil Knight and his family.
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Compared to its rival companies, Nike has donated far more to politicians than it’s competitors. Both Nike and New Balance have each given more than $1.2 million to Republican candidates since 2010, however Nike has also donated more than $900,000 to Democrats over that same time span. By comparison, Adidas and Under Armour have donated less than $600,000 combined to both parties since 2010.
I’m not here to draw conclusions — only to state facts. While I stand firm behind Colin Kaepernick, firm in my boycott of the NFL (and it’s painful) and support Nike in their efforts to support Kaep, I can’t help but follow the money and wonder…
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