Nike Golf never profitable, Even with Tiger

[obsessed_golfer]

Vapor Fly Pro was a solid driver......especially when it was marked down to $150. Our pro shop sold their entire inventory at that price in one day.

[brew4eagle]

I was so excited for their first set of irons. Excited. Gorgeous. And exactly the type of product you launch your line with. Forged blades. Classic. Just a swoosh on them. Had Tiger, Duval, several others.

 

......and then I hit them. And they were Walmart quality castings. Without doubt the worst blade I have ever hit. And I play blades.

 

 

They never really turned that around. They definitely hit on some "good looking" equipment-----and that does matter-------but in terms of "feel", they were severely lacking.

 

 

 

Golf is a tough business. Several companies have made GREAT products (at least for a time) and not made it. Sonartec. Orlimar. Nickent. Macgregor. Scratch.

 

"Walmart quality castings." Exaggerate much? Nike equipment was as good as anything else. All major manufacturers make great equipment. Comes down to personal biases and marketing.

[BlackM00Nlight]

I was so excited for their first set of irons. Excited. Gorgeous. And exactly the type of product you launch your line with. Forged blades. Classic. Just a swoosh on them. Had Tiger, Duval, several others.

 

......and then I hit them. And they were Walmart quality castings. Without doubt the worst blade I have ever hit. And I play blades.

 

 

They never really turned that around. They definitely hit on some "good looking" equipment-----and that does matter-------but in terms of "feel", they were severely lacking.

 

 

 

Golf is a tough business. Several companies have made GREAT products (at least for a time) and not made it. Sonartec. Orlimar. Nickent. Macgregor. Scratch.

 

"Walmart quality castings." Exaggerate much? Nike equipment was as good as anything else. All major manufacturers make great equipment. Comes down to personal biases and marketing.

 

I think he got duped with knockoffs and is still bitter about it.

[bodhi555]

Sasquatch

 

 

Dymo

 

 

THE WORLDS FIRST CAVITY BACK DRIVER!

 

 

yep, it's a head scratcher.

 

I'm still gaming the world's first cavity back driver. Original shaft was a bit soft so put a Blueboard in it, but now I've done that it's a pretty solid driver. Frames the ball perfectly, not too big, easy to shape and still pretty long.

[TollBros]

This doesn't surprise me at all. They targeted a younger demographic, aka no money. I have to say I was never impressed by any Nike wood, and most of the time impressed wasn't even a word in the discussion. They did make some very nice irons over time and some of the balls were excellent, but top to bottom the woods were gaudy colors and fell short on performance and there were some hideous cosmetic choices along the way in irons as well. For the most part a few spotty good products over 15 years won't keep you above water. Shoes and soft foods, total opposite.

[KYMAR]

Sasquatch

 

 

Dymo

 

 

THE WORLDS FIRST CAVITY BACK DRIVER!

 

 

yep, it's a head scratcher.

 

I'm still gaming the world's first cavity back driver. Original shaft was a bit soft so put a Blueboard in it, but now I've done that it's a pretty solid driver. Frames the ball perfectly, not too big, easy to shape and still pretty long.

 

I am sure it performs very well for you.

[TollBros]

I think Nike may have just taken too long to get to the point where they were making equipment that was competitive across the board. That as well as gimmicky names and color schemes.

 

Sasquatch, Sumo, etc. aren't going to draw much of a crowd. Neither is a red or 'photo blue' crown. It looks cheap honestly.

 

Nike really did make competitive and sometimes superior products w/ the Vapor and Vapor Fly lines, method putters, Engage wedges, VR series, and RZN balls.

 

However, so many things were a big miss leading up to those, that A LOT of golfers had completely taken their eye off of Nike. I was a brand loyalist for a long time (bought my first set of Slingshot irons in high school), and I'll admit I don't think a lot of the early product cycles were up to par w/ their competitors. Even going into Covert 1.0 Nike was still behind the Taylormade's or Callaway's.

 

Not even the Tiger endorsement could make up for the fact that they had a reputation for making inferior, gimmicky products......

 

 

I totally agree.

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

Yeah, young demographic target, horrible names for their equipment, horrible color schemes for their equipment, mediocre equipment at best. But Nike still took 20 years of no profit to realize we need to bail out while we can. Yep, sounds like it adds up pretty well.

[Subsonic]

The Slingshots were a popular iron in my neck of the woods. Saw many sets on the course.

 

I also remember when the Sumo driver was rolled out. Tons of fanfare and anticipation. A solid driver that sounded horrible.

[Jcard]

Can't be that bad. Pretty sure Fleetwood won today with mostly nike equipment.

[Man_O_War]

Can't be that bad. Pretty sure Fleetwood won today with mostly nike equipment.

 

He did... Vapor pro driver/woods, vr pro blades.

 

Guess what..Stanley had Pro Combo Set and nike engage wedges in his bag.

 

Good weekend for Nike golf

[nikewalt]

Like most companies, Nike made some great and not so great products. They are a tremendous marketing machine, but never good at telling the public why they were great. In every line Nike markets the athlete, not the product. I believe that was the problem as well as their thought of put a swoosh on it and the public will buy.. That has not been they way the equipment market works.

[johngalt312]

Nike Hockey didn't last either.

[xjohnx]

Nike Hockey didn't last either.

 

This was an entirely different strategy though. Nike bought one of the most popular and well respected brands in the game and just added a swoosh. It didn't go over too well so they stick with just the Bauer name until they ultimately sold the assets to, go figure, a canadian PE firm.

[cvhookem63]

Is it just me, or are the old Nike staffers playing better with their new equipment? Just saying' ;)

Like Tommy Fleetwood?? Oh wait............

 

Add Kyle Stanley to the list...

[brew4eagle]

An example of my previous post. A very good friend of mine was one of the lest 3 people employed in the equipment division, the last 2 months he was in charge of cleaning things up and doing an inventory.

 

During his clean out of the Oven West he found 2 Trackman's that hadn't even been opened. 2 untouched Trackman's still in the packaging on top of the 2 they had hooked up. Why? Just wasteful spending.

 

This is standard for big businesses (and government, too). Hard to wrap your head around as an individual consumer, but in the grand scheme of things it's irrelevant.

[Shilgy]

The Nike Vapor line of woods and irons and Engage wedges are as good as any other mainstream equipment. Period. Would they have been better received without the volt and blue color scheme? IMO absolutely.

[chippa13]

Nike Hockey didn't last either.

 

This was an entirely different strategy though. Nike bought one of the most popular and well respected brands in the game and just added a swoosh. It didn't go over too well so they stick with just the Bauer name until they ultimately sold the assets to, go figure, a canadian PE firm.

 

They didn't just add the swoosh. At the outset there was a Nike line and Bauer line which were separate and distinct. Then, when the Nike line just didn't take off they rebranded the entire company as Nike Bauer, running all lines under that moniker until Nike finally sold its way out of the hockey game.

[airjammer]

Imo...they never got the better amateurs to play the brand. We I started playing 20 years ago all the better players I knew played mizuno/ titleist irons, Cleveland wedges, and Taylormade/Titleist drivers and fairway woods. That shaped my buying decisions over the years. Besides the players they paid or got free clubs from them I can't say I ever played with someone that I considered a stick that had nike clubs.

[Andrew Bond of Glencoe]

Going from zero equipment to offering PGA Tour Equipment is a huge jump.

 

I think their first jump into the market was not the best equipment. I think if your first foray is less than stellar you end up burning potential repeat business---add to that bad word of mouth and it makes a bad situation worse.

 

I love golf clubs and I never even thought of hitting a Nike iron- to me they were never a golf company.

[jons1]

I've played a few nike clubs... they were all excellent. But trying to be a disrupter in a market that is very traditional just didn't work. I don't think many people say to themselves, hey, I want neon green clubs... they just don't. They tried to be different, and they were so different at times some serious golfers were like, meh.

 

The club business is hard enough as it is, so seeing someone throw in the towel might be good news overall. Taylormade and Callaway will continue to sell the crap out of woods, and Ping will continue to sell the crap out of irons, and Titleist will continue to sell the crap out of balls, and Mizuno will continue to have a forged iron cult following, and everyone else will hold onto their hats hoping they aren't the next golf company to be bought or run over.

[the bishop]

Is it just me, or are the old Nike staffers playing better with their new equipment? Just saying' ;)

Like Tommy Fleetwood?? Oh wait............

 

Add Kyle Stanley to the list...

Well 3 out of 14. So I think I'd give the nod to Fleetwood on this one. BTW is any Tour pro still bagging a Nike putter? Serious question. Can't recall seeing one since shortly after Nike threw in the towel.

[jons1]

Is it just me, or are the old Nike staffers playing better with their new equipment? Just saying' ;)

Like Tommy Fleetwood?? Oh wait............

 

Add Kyle Stanley to the list...

Well 3 out of 14. So I think I'd give the nod to Fleetwood on this one. BTW is any Tour pro still bagging a Nike putter? Serious question. Can't recall seeing one since shortly after Nike threw in the towel.

 

I don't think anyone can say they've checked every bag on tour to answer that question without some guessing... but I'm pretty sure once Nike called it quites the putters and golf balls were some of the first things to disappear from pro bags. Just saying.

[BlackM00Nlight]

They seemingly did ditch them in a hurry. Weird though as I've never putted before with my Origin in the bag now. The O-works V line CH model has my eye though.

[puttingmatt]

No company is immune from departing the club making business.

It is that tough, and still could see some more leave.

[Bomber_11]

If one photo could show you why Nike Golf wasn't successful or taken seriously, its this photo right here.

 

 

[Beast10]

I thought both vapor lines were good, still game the hybrid. The fly driver was straight for me and felt great same for the fairway wood.

[bazinky]

In my opinion, Nike got out of the equipment business because due to the rise of a soft-goods competitor (Under Armour) that was not in the golf equipment business. Given that the equipment side wasn't profitable for 20 years (according to their accounting), it was probably always intended as a loss leader and to help maintain the visibility of their brand in order to drive the true profit engine (soft goods sales). Once UA could compete with them for staffers and not require a player to use their clubs, Nike most likely felt they had to follow suit and jettisoned the equipment side.

[bluedot]

A couple of thoughts:

 

1. I'm not sure that Nike has experienced great success in ANY of their efforts at hard goods. Their baseball equipment, for instance, is as far down the wish list for HS and college players as their golf equipment is; I can promise you that Nike bats and gloves are viewed by serious baseball players as far, far below Rawlings, Louisville Slugger, Easton, and the rest.

 

2. Think about the good players you've played golf with over the last decade. How many of them had even ONE Nike club, much less an entire bag? Some of that, of course, is brand loyalty from people who have played Titleist, Ping, Callaway, or TM before Nike made their first club, but MOST golfers would make a change to a new company if they believe it was superior equipment. How many low index golfers do you know that will be impacted by Nike's exit?

 

It's surprising for a company that has a 40 yr history of producing good products along with one of the most recognizable logos in the world, but Nike clubs never looked tempting to me in the least. I never saw a single one that made me want to go to a store and give it a test run; not once. I'm not sure where they went wrong, but they did.

[new2g0lf]

When things were going well for Nike they could afford to have a few divisions lose money but their overall business is getting very competitive with Adidas, Puma, UA, and Reebok. Golf equipment was a reach for Nike and with Tiger being injured and Rory not dominating as expected they probably didn't see the potential to make the hard goods division profitable, especially knowing that Adidas was trying to dump Adams and TaylorMade.