Welcome to Duke, Cooper Flagg!
- Thread starter Native
- Start date
nmduke2001
Member
I've not been following the rules of NIL. How does being personally sponsored by NB but team sponsored by Nike work for Cooper? Isn't he still bound to wear Nike gear while at Duke? Can he were NB gear while working out, or is that Nike required as well? Is NB just trying to get in early before the real rush starts once late April hits?
hallcity
Member
Adam Zagoria says Flagg has to wear Nike on the court at Duke but can wear whatever he likes elsewhere.
JasonEvans
Host, The Duke Basketball Roundup
While representing Duke university on the court, Cooper must wear a Duke uniform. Duke's uniforms -- including the shoes -- are provided by Nike and are part of a lucrative sponsorship deal with the University.
What Cooper does outside of non-official Duke basketball stuff is all his own and Nike has zero claim to what he wears then.
Seems to be a smart move by NB who supposedly got Cooper on a multi-year deal already. I don't really understand the nostalgia factor of a newspaper delivery in the ad, but I'm probably missing it .... I'm old enough to have had daily newspaper deliveries, but certainly Cooper's cohort isn't seeing that these days. I get they're trying to capture small town Americana or something, but I expected some tagline at the end to tie it all together.
brevity
Member
hallcity linked to Adam Zagoria above, but it's harder to see links on the new board. This is why I put them in bold print. From Woj:
Duke's Flagg signs on as New Balance endorser
Duke forward Cooper Flagg -- the No. 1 prospect in ESPN's 2025 NBA draft class -- has signed a shoe endorsement deal with New Balance, which has a factory near his childhood home in Maine.
nmduke2001
Member
Thank you. I wonder what official Duke basketball events really means. If they are on an away trip and he walks down to the lobby to grab a snack, can he wear NB or does he have to wear Nike to do that? It seems like a bit of a nightmare for the people in charge of keeping Nike happy.
Last edited:
bluedevilwildcats
Member
As a Marketing executive, my first thought was "That commercial sucks."
Great News!! New Balance has always been my go to shoe company for running shoes and other active wear shoes. A great variety in widths which I need and most models are still made in the USA. Expecting a shipment in four days coming out of Maine. I can wait until he puts out a signature model.
SkyBrickey
Member
Nike can't be super happy about this. Hopefully they will just view it as an unusual situation given the New Balance, Maine connection. Good for Cooper.
MarkD83
Member
We can take it ....tell us how you really feel
rsvman
Member
I actually liked it. I think they are trying to give off a simpler time vibe, to sell a little nostalgia. 'Sell the sizzle, not the steak,' they say. They could have shown him making tomahawk slams in a huge gym with 25K screaming fans, but for now that's not the vibe they were seeking.
msdukie
Member
Any situation in which he would be expected to wear Duke gear (games, practice, media events, travel with the team, team events including visiting Duke Children's Hospital) would be the same situations in which he would be expected to wear Nike shoes. If he was in a situation where he wasn't expected to wear Duke gear, then he can wear whatever shoes he wants.
brevity
Member
You've answered your own question. They're on an away trip. Cooper Flagg is representing Duke and traveling with the team at the team's expense. Even if there are non-basketball activities scheduled for a day off, they will do them as a team. The only athletic gear he's packing should be Nike.
I recognize that there might be some gray areas (say, he's in Durham and stops at a grocery store the morning of a game day), but an away trip is probably not one of them. As I've mentioned somewhere in the Name, Image, Likeness thread, there is precedent for athletic apparel conflicts. Flau'jae Johnson plays basketball for LSU, a Nike school, but she's had an endorsement deal with Puma since last year:
LSU is a Nike school. Flau’jae Johnson is a Puma athlete. How does that work? - Just Women's Sports
LSU women's basketball guard Flau'jae Johnson still has to wear Nike shoes during games, practices and official public appearances.
justwomenssports.com
Similarly, Hailey Van Lith is an Adidas endorser who transferred from an Adidas school (Louisville) to a Nike school (LSU last season) and now another Nike school (TCU).
Phredd3
Member
The vibe in the commercial was great. My problem with it is that, without this long thread to support it, I would never have remembered what the advertised product was.
hustleplays
Member
I'm getting a kick out of our wondering/worrying how Cooper is going to manage his Nike vs NB commitments. Oh the humanity! I'm happy here to report that all the lawyers involved will continue to find work and thus contribute to the velocity of money in our economy. Thank you all!
This amateur-athlete thing is getting just a little too complex for me to follow. I am eager to discover what Cooper will be studying, in addition to economics, law, marketing, etc. I freely admit, though, with a modicum of guilt, that I will enjoy watching Cooper and his fellow students play basketball here at Duke, a highly regarded research university.
This amateur-athlete thing is getting just a little too complex for me to follow. I am eager to discover what Cooper will be studying, in addition to economics, law, marketing, etc. I freely admit, though, with a modicum of guilt, that I will enjoy watching Cooper and his fellow students play basketball here at Duke, a highly regarded research university.
So the team has to wear everything Nike? They can’t have any other brand on when walking around?
brevity
Member
I couldn't tell you for sure -- I'm not a Nike brand enforcer -- but as a practical matter, there's only so much room in a suitcase, and teams are provided with a lot of apparel and gear. Add dress shirts and slacks for evening dinners and you're all set.
Someone could wear me down with hypotheticals -- what if Duke played a Thanksgiving tournament in the Bahamas, and what if Khaman Maluach took the opportunity to fulfill overseas NIL commitments, and what if one of them was a competing athletic brand? Sure, whatever. Even then, I don't think Maluach would go rogue and not tell his coaches about it. They're in the loop.